


[Online]

by Fragilister



Category: Watch Dogs (Video Game)
Genre: Aiden living with his mom and Nicky, Alternate Universe, Awkward college Aiden, Explicit Language, IT worker Damien, Internet Relationship, M/M, Sexting, Sexual Content, Slow Build, Webcam/Video Chat Sex, literally everything i tag will be a spoiler, reddit and 4chan references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-17 19:18:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3541007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fragilister/pseuds/Fragilister
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>r/gonewild isn't a place where people meet other people to talk about weather and seafood recipes. That wasn't Aiden's goal either when he started posting his pictures in that thread, but it took a slightly unexpected turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. [r/gonewild]

**Author's Note:**

> Why. Why did I write this.  
> I have no idea, but I really enjoy it. I don't know how often I will update it, because I still have [Pay_To_Claim_the_Prize] to finish and [Needles] to continue, but this idea has been haunting me for weeks and I've planned basically /everything/. 
> 
> This is a small experiment, I wondered what the feedback would be for an AU like this. Let's see c:
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> P.S. If you're not familiar with 4chan and stuff, just a short explanation:  
> /b/ - random thread on 4chan. Gross place. I love it.  
> r/ - every thread on Reddit starts with r/  
> /pol/ - 4chan's thread about politics  
> r/gonewild - a thread where people put up their nudes on Reddit and take requests

4chan was such an awful place to be on at 2AM instead of sleeping. It wasn't that Damien cared anyway, he had nothing better to do. Page after page, one gross post after another, Brenks looked through /b/ while lying down on his bed and chewing on a sandwich he recently made. After another post he stopped chewing and put away the food carefully, suddenly losing the appetite. He wanted to change the thread, when he saw another post and blinked in amusement.

 

**[Whatcha think of this eye candy, girls?**

**> op is a faggot]**

Damien snorted at the most uncreative comment and opened the thread, seeing two more pictures of the same man with a scarf around the bottom part of his face. It went almost all the way up to the bridge of his nose. Two of the pictures were cropped so he could only see his bare body, but the last one was high enough for Damien to see his half open eyes in the color of intense green. He looked at the pictures again before sighing loudly and closing the tab and scrolling down to the next post. Another few pages, another few disturbing entries, but Damien wasn't even bored anymore. He was curious. Too curious to keep scrolling.

He found the thread with the green eyed guy again and after a moment of internal struggle left a comment.

**[ >sauce??]**

He left it open in another tab and continued browsing, switching /pol/ instead but getting quickly bored of the angry Nazis. He refreshed the tab impatiently, not expecting an answer, but he caught himself hoping that he would get it anyway.

Click. Click. Click. Click.

_Wait._

**[ >sauce??**

** >> u go faggot, dude's name is foxdudesendnudes on reddit**

** >>> thx tard]**

Damien was almost ashamed at how quickly he started searching for the original poster and quite surprised when he realized that this really was a reliable source. Apparently it wasn't a fake, trying to bait people to questionable websites, but an actual user, currently delivering. Damien smirked, when he saw in which threads this guy usually spend his time. R/gonewild was filled with FoxDude's nudes.

Brenks opened up his gallery and browsed through the pictures, lifting his eyebrow. That was some real _quality_ photos, most of his body that could be requested has already been requested and posted. The man never took any pictures of his face. He was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask on a few photos and on the rest he just covered his face with his hand or wore the scarf covering him from the bridge of his nose and down to his neck, as Damien saw on 4chan.

The pictures varied from simple selfies FoxDude took to show off his well-build chest and collar bones, to some really explicit pictures of things people were interested in. Damien had one favorite that he saved on his drive for future reference. It was taken when the man has lift his Guy Fawkes mask a little to show his lips and his chin covered with short stubble. He has opened his mouth and pressed his thumb against it as his other hand was way lower on his bare body. Damien took a longer look at this one before going further. 

FoxDude had some clothed pictures too, answering some ladies' requests for his forearms and hips sticking out from underneath his clothes. But then there were some photos that Damien felt made his cheeks warm, even though he wasn't usually sensitive to things like this, but this man looked extraordinary. He was pale and nicely muscled, the exact type Damien was into. For a moment he wondered how tall FoxDude was and how his voice sounded. Brenks felt his own hand caress his thigh lightly as he breathed out, seeing another innocent selfie where the poster just covered his face with his hand, looking up to the camera with a sparkle in his green eyes.

Damien leaned more comfortably against the head of his bed, letting his gaze linger on that picture. He wouldn't lie if he said he was truly mesmerized by him. He hurried to see the other pictures and bookmarked FoxDude's account just in case, though it was absolutely unnecessary. It wasn't like Brenks would forget that nickname anytime soon.

He refreshed the page and realized that while he's been stalking through the gallery, FoxDude added another picture. Damien opened the miniature quickly and huffed through his nose with a smirk, when the black and white photo loaded. The stranger was wearing his mask again and tilting his head while sitting in a bathtub with a beer in his hand. Everything that could be exposed in that position, was exposed, and Damien realized that it must have taken a while to set the camera just right without any help from outside. He glanced at the description and snorted.

**[Care to join (m)e?]**

_Oh hell yes._

****  
  
  
  
  


Setting the camera just right without any help was hell. Getting up from the bathtub without dropping his device into the water was even more difficult. Aiden put away his beer onto the edge of the tub and stood up carefully, trying to make as little sound as possible. He was pretty sure his mother and sister would question what he was thinking, sitting in a bathtub for three hours and emerging first at around 2AM on a Wendesday. He got the Guy Fawkes mask off his face and he reached for the camera on the bathtub shelf, before putting it somewhere safer and starting to dry the water and foam off his body.

He really hoped he would at least get some good feedback on this picture, because he didn't want to have the knowledge that he wasted at least good thirty minutes on getting the camera angle right, getting himself hard and shooting enough photos to know that at least one will be sharp, just to forget to put on the mask and have to redo the process again; absolutely unnecessarily.

Pearce grabbed the camera and the can of beer before leaving the towel on the floor and turning off the light in the bathroom. He opened the door and started sneaking over to his room naked. He was halfway through the hall, when he realised that he has forgotten the mask next to the sink and cursed internally, turning around again in the dark to get the mask, feeling his way along the wall. Quickly Aiden got to the bathroom again and grabbed the item, not wanting to linger outside his room for much longer than this. At this point if someone caught him, saying a quick "I can explain", wouldn't fix anything. Because he couldn't explain.

"What the fuck, Aiden?"

Aiden froze and turned to the source of the quiet voice, which was his sister's half-open door.

"I can explain," slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. He used the mask to cover his privates, thanking all gods for the darkness. "Eh... Go to sleep. It's past your bedtime."

Nicky wheezed. "I'm seventeen Aiden. And I really want to hear an explanation on why you're walking around the house naked in the middle of the night with... questionable... items...? Is that your camera?" she whispered and sighed, seeing that her brother emerged to his own room, small step by small step.

"Nick. Go the fuck to sleep. You saw nothing," Aiden added, opening his door slowly to not let the hinge squeak.

"I'd say I saw too much. Give me that beer and I won't tell mom I caught you taking nudes." Nicole rolled her eyes. "Again."

Aiden breathed out in relief and reached out to her to pass her the can. "I love you, sis."

"You're doing the dishes tomorrow, weirdo," Nicky added and shut her door quietly.

"Thanks," Aiden mouthed before entering his own room and throwing his stuff on the bed. He turned on the lamp on the bedside table and got onto the mattress himself. His pulse was still racing so he just took a moment to breathe deeply before opening his laptop.

This has happened more than once, but bribing Nicole with some kind of edible or drinkable goods usually worked just fine. Back in the days chocolate was enough, but the older she got, the more demanding. Not that Aiden minded as long as she kept his secrets away from their mother; it was a price Aiden was willing to pay.

He lied down between the sheets in a more comfortable position and picked up the camera, looking through the pictures he took and deleted a few right away. He plugged in the device to his computer and turned on Reddit as he waited for the pictures to load. It's just been a few hours since he was online for the last time, but already in these few hours he got several comments and five private messages. He opened them with a bored expression, but minimalised the window to find the picture he wanted to upload and applied a black and white filter before posting it.

Aiden tapped with his fingers against the keyboard before smirking to himself and writing the title.

**[Care to join (m)e?]**

He closed the tab and looked through the comments. Reddit's community was usually subtle, and Aiden noticed that most of the comments making him uncomfortable were from spam accounts. Not that he cared anyway; if someone couldn't handle rude comments, they should never post in places like these.

There was only one thing that bothered him. It wasn't that Aiden didn't appreciate the comments from Reddit's beautiful ladies, he just wasn't very interested in that kind of attention, as he's realised already many years ago that he'd much more appreciate comments from Reddit's beautiful men. From time to time he got some interesting responds, but most of the nudes and requests were from women. Not like Aiden minded, but if it wasn't an interesting request, he never even answered. Not even privately.

He opened the comments first and smiled to himself. One user left several comments on different photos. Some were really enjoyable.

 

**[BeansDirkMen: Your lips are stunning. I'd love to feel them against mine.]**

**[BeansDirkMen:I bet being inside you is even more amazing than just watching you.]**

**[BeansDirkMen: Nice choice of li...**

  
  
_Wait._  
  
Aiden looked at the user's nickname and opened their account. The user has only shared stories in r/talesfromtechsupport and r/greentext. Aiden opened the oldest one from two years ago to find some kind of introduction and snorted, when he saw 4chan's green text format. This user probably didn't spend his time just on Reddit.

_**> be me** _

_**> 28yo IT worker** _

_**> meet a girl at work, Ellie, 7.5/10** _

Aiden started chuckling at the ridiculous story of BeansDirkMen getting a girlfriend at work and making him fix all of the hardware in her house before dumping him, because she wasn't into the idea of him also liking guys. Later Aiden read a few of his more recent stories, most of them about his job, but also some random ones in r/greentext. He wouldn't think he'd be as amused as he has gotten, but he was. Especially when he realised that this clever man has enjoyed his gallery, probably a lot.

Pearce bookmarked the profile and closed the tab to go back to his own gallery, when he saw that he got a comment on the newest photo.

  
**[Care to join (m)e?]**

**BeansDirkMen: Hell yes.**

  
  
Pearce snorted and scratched his chin with his fingers. He felt his ears become all red and he had to take a deeper breath, before finally trying to ignore his growing curiosity and arousal, and opening his private messages. He deleted some spam and unwanted nudes, and wanted to check the front page of the website before going to sleep, but his message box blinked again.

**BeansDirkMen: You make me go absolutely insane. Could I please get another pic of these lips of yours?**

Aiden looked at the message in silence for a moment and then didn't hesitate before reaching out for his phone to open the Reddit app and get a nice picture with his front cam. He didn't answer to requests privately in a while, but he could definitely make an exception for a message which somehow made him hard again with barely seventeen words.

He took the picture of his chest and up to his nose, opening his mouth a little. He looked at it with a smirk and wanted to send it, but then hesitated and grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen from the bedside table to start writing.

**/You like it, BeansDirkMen? ;)/**

  
He covered all of his face with the paper leaving only his chin and lips visible and took another picture, which he sent without any description. He sighed and let his hand slid down to his groin, as he refreshed the box impatiently. After a while he has given up the hope of getting an answer, but just before he closed the tab, BeansDirkMen responded. 

**BeansDirkMen: oh this looks amazing. more, please? youre mking my night, foxdude srsly**

Aiden smiled wider seeing how messy his writing style got, probably because of typing with one hand. He reached for the mask, putting it on and slipping it up a little to show his lips. He wrapped his fingers around his length and took a second picture.

**FoxDudeSendNudes: You're touching yourself, aren't you? ;)**

He reread the description and send the message again. Another few minutes flew by and Aiden was definitely getting somewhere with his hand, trying to make as little noise as possible on the creaky bed. He let his other hand stroke his chest, leaving it every few minutes to refresh his inbox impatiently. 

**BeansDirkMen: Talking to you was a pleasure ;) Thank you.**

Pearce grunted, hoping for some more. He was aching with need at this point, but he was pretty sure that BeansDirkMen has gone offline already, as he seemed to be done. 

Aiden shook his head and sighed while putting away his laptop and turning off the light. He pulled the blanket up to his chin and let his hand disappear underneath it. He breathed out louder and ran his fingers down his thigh before getting to business again, eager to get rid of this unwanted arousal. He put his hand up to his mouth again and spit in it, before starting to stroke himself again, sighing when he made his grip more firm.

"Fuck," he breathed out quietly and curved his back. He wasn't usually this easily turned on, but just the thought that two pictures of him was enough to make that someone get off, suddenly appeared really hot to him.

He was of course aware that BeansDirkMen could be a lie, or someone he would never find attractive, but at this point he didn't even care. Aiden was restless and too aroused and curious to think straight. He stopped his moves and reached for his phone again. He opened his inbox and started typing.   
  
**FoxDudeSendNudes: Send me something back please c:**  
  
If the stranger answered it could only be an immediate boner killer or the exact contrary. And Aiden wanted to know so badly. He was staring at the screen impatiently until he answer came after a few more minutes   
  
**BeansDirkMen: Showered already, sorry you didn't get to see the mess you've made ;)**  
  
Aiden hurried to open the attachment to see a picture of a man with a towel hanging loosely around his hips. He wasn't very muscular, but Aiden didn't find him unattractive in any way, quite the opposite. His skin was still wet after showering and Aiden could see a tattoo on his left inner forearm. A tiny bit of his face was visible and Pearce saw a thin goatee in the color of dirty blonde.

He breathed out loudly and had to put away the phone for a moment, feeling his heart pound so much faster. BeansDirkMen made it quite clear that he hasn't been very innocent with his pictures and just that thing it made Aiden's breath shorten. He looked down at the phone again and didn't stop touching himself as he felt that his release would soon arrive. Aiden dropped the phone onto the mattress and covered his mouth with the now free hand, before coming onto his stomach, swallowing a groan and shutting his eyes. His phone vibrated when he got new notifications and he hurried to pick it up.

Two messages lit up the screen.

**BeansDirkMen: Enjoying yourself, FoxDude? ;)**

Aiden smirked.

**BeansDirkMen: Show me.**

He did.


	2. [Too_Close]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordi is a dick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys, I'm having a small crisis lately; a very hard time writing. I'll probably be back when I catch up with some stuff in real life, I haven't abandoned these fics!
> 
> Love you c:
> 
> Enjoy!

They surely had many awkward mornings with Nicky, but Aiden definitely decided this was the worst one yet.

"What's up with you two?" their mom wondered while getting out of the house while they were still eating breakfast.

Aiden just shrugged and stared back down at his cereal as Nicky burst out laughing quietly.

"It's nothing. I just love my brother so much, you know," she said wiggling her eyebrows towards Aiden, who gave her a murderous glare. "When he's not sending his nudes to random girls on the internet," she added in low voice when Mrs Pearce stepped out of the apartment, calling out a short 'goodbye'.

"Damn Nicky, you're such a dick," Aiden let out when the door shut behind her.

"Do they at least _want_ you to send them this stuff?" Nicole laughed and poked him with her foot. "If you send people surprise dick pics, then I must tell you I'm ashamed to be your sister."

The man rolled his eyes and grabbed the cereal. "You're not supposed to ask me about these things. And hell, if I find _you_ sending nudes to someone..."

Nicky wheezed. "Right. You're so overprotective, Christ. And yet you let me drink."

"If you really _have to_ drink, I want you to do it with me. Or at least at home," he scoffed while chewing on his cereal. "Want me to drive you to school?"

She shrugged and just nodded, seeing that Aiden wanted to end the topic. "Sure."

**  
**

Damien couldn't remember when was the last time when he still felt amazing after sleeping just for mere three hours. It was even better when he saw that the alarm wasn't the only source of vibrations on his phone. Lazily he swiped the screen and opened Reddit messages.

**FoxDudeSendNudes: Hey, thanks for yesterday. Want to add me on Skype? My user is TheF0x, I look forward to it ;)**

Damien didn't even answer, he just turned on the Skype app and searched for the contact. He didn't know why this beautiful man found him interesting enough to add on something besides Reddit, but now that he did it, he would definitely not refuse.

He hoped to see a picture of FoxDude's face as the profile picture, but he just used some minimalistic graphic of a fox. Damien smirked. Though slightly disappointed, he definitely liked this man's style.

He added FoxDude as a contact and got up slowly. He was just working in the morning on Wendesdays, so he looked forward to coming home in a few hours and having a longer talk with his new pet. Damien threw the damp towel off his bed and walked over to the window, pulling down the blinds with one finger. He squinted his eyes and it took him a moment before he got used to the light from outside.

It was still snowing, just as it has been last night and all last week. January was mild this year, but there was still a few inches deep snow on the ground. Brenks let go of the blinds and turned around with a yawn. He walked over to the bathroom and washed his sleepy face slowly, continuing with his not very complicated morning routine. He ran his fingers through his short hair and headed for the bedroom again and up the wardrobe, when he heard his phone vibrate on the bedside table, receiving a notification from Skype.

**TheF0x: Morning ;) Off to work?**

**BeansDirkMen: Morning :) Yeah, I am. Just to be sure, you are _not_ underage, right?**

**TheF0x: Haha, no, it's cool. I'm 22.**

Damien chuckled and walked over to the wardrobe, grabbing some clothes and putting some underwear on before answering.

**BeansDirkMen: That's a relief :D Still in bed?**

**TheF0x: Nope. I'm in my car and the traffic is awful, because of the snow. I'm driving my sis to school.**

**BeansDirkMen: What a nice brother you are ;) So are you bored? That's why you're messaging me?**

**TheF0x: Kind of. Remember the bathtub pic yesterday? She saw me when I walked down the hall after I was done.**

Brenks snorted and put away the phone again, getting his jeans on and throwing on a shirt, buttoning it up with one hand while typing in an answer.

**BeansDirkMen: You don't live alone? That must have been awkward haha :P So how was yesterday? You want a repeat tonight?**

**TheF0x: It was. Hell yes I want a repeat c': Oh, sorry, g2g. Traffic is moving again, cya around.**

Damien put the phone into his pocket and shook his head. At least now he knew that he probably wouldn't get jailed for these pictures. He fixed his collar and looked around the messy room, searching for his bag. His gaze stopped at yesterday's unfinished sandwich and he walked over to the bedside table again to pick it up, finishing it in a few bites. He grabbed his jacket on the way out of his apartment, finding the bag on a shelf next to the door. He was already outside and walking down the stairs next to his neighbours' doors, when he felt his phone vibrate again.

**TheF0x: Dropped her off now. Aaand... the traffic sucks again.**

**BeansDirkMen: I don't even have a car and I'm too lazy to use my moto in winter, so... I walk a lot haha :')**

**TheF0x: Almost sorry for you :P**

**BeansDirkMen: ;)**

Damien got outside and shivered, feeling the cold wind against his face. He usually said that he didn't mind not owning a car, but oh yes, he definitely would like one. The snow was crunching under his steps and it was unusually quiet outside, thanks to the snow falling softly on the ground. Damien pulled his beanie over his ears and put his hands inside of his pockets. His breath was visible in the cold weather, which made him want to reach into his inner pocket for cigarettes, but they weren't there.

 _Right. No smoking after after New Year's Eve_ , he remembered bitterly and reached for his phone again. He turned the device in his hand but put it back into his pocket, not wanting to appear too clingy to FoxDude. After all he was driving.

 

 **  
** Aiden put away his phone slowly. He wanted to write another message before the lights switched to green, but he didn't want appear too clingy. It was enough that he added BeansDirkMen on Skype just after the first time like that. The traffic moved and Aiden changed gear with a lazy push, looking in the rear-view mirror yawning. Driving in Chicago used to be one of his biggest nightmares, but at this point he was already so used to it that he didn't even care. When his mother started taking the bus to work, the car was for him to use and he would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy it. **  
**

After another few minutes he was already getting to the parking lot in front of the university. He got out of the vehicle and opened the back door to grab his bag from the seat.

"Good morning, Pearce."

Aiden flinched and jumped up slightly, letting out a pained hiss when he hit his head against the roof of the car. He turned around with a groan and pulled the bag up on his shoulder while rubbing the spot on his head which got hurt when he got startled.

"For fucks sake Jordi, why do you always have to do this," he muttered when he saw his skinny Chinese friend looking at his own reflection in the car mirror and adjusting it so he could see how his hair looked. "Hey, don't touch it," Aiden added and shut the door.

"Cheerful as always, I see," the other man said with a grin and straightened up, putting his hands in the pockets of his overly fancy suit pants.

Aiden locked the car and started walking up to the main building with Jordi right next to him. Pearce tensed a little. By now he should have been used to Jordi not exactly understanding the concept of personal space, but he still had a hard time with feeling his breath on his neck every time his friend wanted something. Aiden scolded himself for calling Jordi his friend even; he knew Jordi had his reasons to hang out with him, and being friendly wasn't one of them.

"So, Pearce..."

 _Yup, there it comes_ , Aiden thought bitterly when Chin sighed loudly before talking again.

"I've been surfing on the web last night, because writing the essay sounded like such a boring idea," Jordi continued in a nonchalant tone, but Aiden just groaned. Unfortunately he knew exactly where this was going. "Yeah, so I got on Reddit... You know, just to browse through the front page. I saw that you were online, what a coincidence..."

"How many words?" Aiden interrupted him with a loud sigh as they got inside the building.

Jordi snorted when Aiden stopped and turned to him, not looking him in the eye. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Pearce," he said innocently. "Last night picture was nice though, I almost pitied you weren't a girl. Couldn't you get Nicky to take some pics like tha..."

"She's _seventeen_ , creep. Look, just how many words do you need on that essay?" Aiden muttered and started walking down the corridor again, pushing some freshmen out of the way. He could almost feel Jordi grin behind him, just as he always did when he managed to make him nervous over those stupid pictures.

It wasn't that he was ever even supposed to know. No one was supposed to know. Aiden still hated the teacher who made him and Jordi Chin partners in Science that disastrous day. Aiden's life would probably be about sixty percent less complicated if not that one moment when Mr Nelson said something like "You. Weird quiet kid. Yes, yes you. And... You. Not you, the Asian you. Yes. Fancy pants and sadistic smile. You. Perfect" and he had to shake hands with Jordi Chin. Though that's not usually how Aiden remembered that moment; it was more similar to signing a contract with the Devil.

Pearce rarely observed the other students in his periods so he had no idea what to expect from Jordi at that time. His first thought was that he was lucky to work with the only Asian in the group, as he stereotypically expected him to actually be good on the subject. And it wasn't that his new partner wasn't talented, but he definitely wasn't interested in the project, making Aiden do the work himself. After that Pearce hoped to never have to talk to this skinny, arrogant asshole ever again, but Jordi had a way better plan to make sure that he would finish this year in college without having to stress too much.

When Aiden refused to speak with him after they finished the project, there was this blissful silence for a few weeks. And then this one message Aiden received on Reddit.

**NotThePizzaGuy: jfc, clean your room. I didn't expect to see you here, pearce. not sure if I wanted to see you here. you wouldn't want anyone /else/ to see you here, right?**

**FoxDudeSendNudes: Who is this?**

**NotThePizzaGuy: not the pizza guy, obviously.**

**FoxDudeSendNudes: ...Jordi?**

**NotThePizzaGuy: clever boy c;**

So many weeks after that happened, Aiden still had no idea how Jordi recognised him on these pictures. It was probably something in the background combined with some part of Aiden that Jordi was familiar with. Pearce never dared to ask him why he even opened pictures on r/gonewild tagged with (m), and now he didn't even care anymore. It wasn't like he could do anything about Jordi having an entire backup copy of his account; of course he casually told that to Aiden at some point, just to keep him working. 

"Make it longer than yours. I haven't started yet," Jordi said behind him, pulling him out of the traumatic past and into the traumatic reality.

They have arrived to the classroom and walked in to take their seats. Aiden dumped his bag onto the table and groaned, when Jordi came slinking in on the chair beside him. "You don't have to sit with me in every period, you know that?" Pearce muttered with a yawn and picked up his phone.

Jordi shrugged and smiled wider. "Well I need to tell you about the details for my essay, right?"

Aiden shook his head and realised he has gotten another message while he was driving.

**BeansDirkMen: I'll be home at noon, wanna talk later? ;)**

**TheF0x: Yeah, sure ;))**

He flinched and almost dropped the phone when Jordi leaned in from behind his shoulder. "Jesus fucking Christ, Jordi, personal space, remember? We talked about it," he murmured.

Chin sighed theatrically and moved back a little. "Yeah, yeah. I've seen your nudes though, pretty sure your private messages aren't worse than that."

"Do you hear yourself sometimes?" Aiden wheezed and looked back down onto the screen.

"Well, Pearce..."

"Fuck off."

"Yeah, yeah..."

 

"...have you tried turning it off and on again? Yeah? Please, try that..." Damien moved away the microphone from his mouth and sighed loudly, shutting his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose between his fingers. Soon he heard the loud screechy voice of the elderly lady in his headphones again and he cringed, trying very hard to not just disconnect. "Yeah, did it work? Great, have a nice day Mrs..."

There was already a long beep on the other side of the line. Damien turned off the microphone, put his headset on the desk and cursed under his breath.

Customers were always so rude. He would most definitely prefer to be home already, talking to FoxDude. Maybe he could get him to show his whole face at some point. Now _that_ was something that Damien was really looking forward to. He knew that FoxDude had these intensively green eyes, and gorgeous plump lips, but seeing them together on one picture would be a great experience. Or seeing FoxDude's eyes half-lidded, as his lips would be closed around his...

"Brenks, take this one from me."

Damien blinked, getting pulled out of his thoughts. "What?" he asked with a stupid expression, looking up to his coworker, who was covering his microphone with his hand and pointing at Damien's headset with his chin.

"He's stuttering, it drives me fucking crazy," the other man whispered while scratching his chin.

"Oh, right. Connect them right up, Toby,"  Damien sighed in realisation and put on the headset. He heard a click on the other side of the line. "Damien Brenks, IT service, how can I help you?"

While talking to another client, Damien glanced at the time constantly, knowing that he could go home in less than twenty minutes and counting down. He glanced down at his phone and stopped breathing for a moment, when he saw a new message.

**TheF0x: I'm so bored..... Can't wait until we can talk later today... ;)**

Damien breathed in loudly and smiled to himself, putting away his smartphone and finishing talking to his client. He looked looked at the time again. The vision of of a nice conversation in the not-so-distant future was definitely motivating enough.


	3. [Hands_Up]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damien grows fond of his new friend. Who wouldn't, in these circumstances?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, Rovenka. 
> 
> For stuff.

Unfortunately, Aiden didn't get a message that afternoon, and he didn't send any. He would never admit that he kept staring at his phone all evening and the following day. A few times he was tempted to write, but finally decided that he felt to anxious to actually ask for some attention. Though the way he wanted to act as if he didn't even care anymore, Aiden jumped where he sat on his chair in economics class on Friday afternoon, when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

** BeansDirkMen: Hi gorgeous ;) Care to entertain me? **

Aiden felt that his face turned a nice shade of red, though he wasn't sure if because of the compliment or the anger because of how straightforward BeansDirkMen was after not talking to him when they were supposed to talk. He steadied his elbow upon the table, covering his cheek and chin so no one in the classroom would notice his body's reaction. It wasn't that anyone ever payed attention to him being there anyway and Jordi has disappeared as usual, paying some other Chinese kid to pretend to be him. The professor barely remembered all names of his students, so no one ever expected that he would remember faces. Especially, because Jordi was aware that 'all Asians looked the same' to him and he was only profiting from it.

Pearce looked down onto his phone again, wondering if he should express his annoyance over the fact that the other man ignored him for so long, but finally he just wrote a short answer. 

**TheF0x: And what would you like ;))**  
  
 **BeansDirkMen: Are you at home?**  
  
 **TheF0x: Nope. Economics :c**  
  
 **BeansDirkMen: College boy, eh? Nice ;) I guess I shouldn't be bothering you in class.**   
  
Pearce looked up again and sighed, glancing at the teacher for a moment.   
  
**TheF0x: No, just give me a moment. And think about what you'd like specifically ;)**  
  
Aiden lift his hand and stood up almost the moment the teacher looked at him. "I-need-to-go-to-the-bathroom," he said quickly in one breath, already heading for the door.  
  
"What? You had a break, Pearce... Oh whatever," the older man sighed and just pointed at the door with his chin. Aiden didn't wait until he changed his mind, rushing to the corridor and looking down at his phone again once outside.

 **BeansDirkMen: If you insist... Surprise me c:**  
  
Aiden walked through the corridor quickly, ignoring some students that looked at him with raised eyebrows, when he slipped past them, brushing his back against the wall. His mind was blank. He didn't even know why, but he wanted to impress the stranger, show him that he enjoyed his attention. But all he had was a dirty college bathroom.

Aiden soon found the door and walked inside the men's bathroom, leaning against the sinks and looking at his reflection with a frown. He wondered how much time he could spend here, before it has gotten suspicious. Professor Atkins didn't usually care about students disappearing from his lessons, but Aiden didn't want to give him another reason to lower his grade.

Pearce flinched when someone entered behind him and stood in front of one of the urinals with his back turned on Aiden and the mirrors. Aiden looked down on the sinks and clenched on the smooth metal of the sink, when he got an idea that his newly acquired friend would appreciate. His heart started beating faster when he shortly thought of the eventual consequences, but the rest of his mind ignored reason. With a quick move, he turned on the water to suppress any eventual sounds that he could cause, before he unzipped his jeans, pulling out his length through the zipper. He hurried to pick up his phone with trembling hands and turned on the camera. After a moment of hesitation Aiden pulled up his t-shirt, putting the lower part of it into his mouth, grazing it with his teeth. He covered his face with the phone and took a few pictures of his reflection, making sure that the other man was visible in the background. Through the entire procedure, Aiden didn't even breathe, too tense and nervous to let out any sounds.

Suddenly he flinched when he heard the other man zip up his trousers and he hurried to do that himself, almost dropping his phone into the sink. Aiden checked if his clothes were sitting neatly on his body and let out a sigh of relief as the other man walked over to one of the sinks next to him to wash his hands, as Aiden was already turning off the water. Pearce walked over to the door slowly while opening the pictures he got and choosing the one with the best quality, before sending it with a smirk.

 **TheF0x: You almost got me caught ;)**  
  
He was still shivering a little because of the small adrenaline kick he's gotten, but a wide smile was plastered to his face when he walked through the corridor. He already got back into the classroom and to his chair, when he got an answer.  
  
 **BeansDirkMen: Holy shit. You're insane dude hahaha. I love it, I'm so hard right now, fuck.**  
  
Aiden smirked and put away the phone without answering. He checked the time and realized there were thirty minutes left of economics and he could go home. He saw notification blink on his phone again, sabotaging his concentration on his teacher's words completely.   
  
**BeansDirkMen: im touching myself.  I hope u don't mind ;p**

 **BeansDirkMen: can u send me something more?**  
  
 **TheF0x: I can't get out of here again, sorry for leading you on :(**  
  
 **BeansDirkMen: It's alright. could you send me a pic of your hands?  c:**  
  
Aiden couldn't help but smirk and shook his head. This guy was such a weirdo. Aiden was pretty charmed by it though, even if he wanted to scold himself for even thinking the thought. After all he wasn't very different from all the people who requested nudes from him. Except for being somehow very absorbing and polite. Even now Beans, as Aiden started calling him in his head, didn't push him in any way.  
  
Thankfully he was sitting in the back row so he could use his phone without any issues. He put his hand over his thigh, made sure all of his phone sounds were muted before taking a pic. Then he turned his hand around and captured his palm too, knowing that if his conversation partner was into this stuff, he would like it even more.  
  
 **TheF0x: You're so weird, man. I got some foot fetish requests, but hands? ;D**  
  
Aiden send the message and started listening to the teacher again, opening his book and catching up on the topic. It was difficult though when the image of Beans touching himself watching his pictures was dancing in front of him.   
  
**BeansDirkMen: not as weird as you think. there are many more things that you can do with hands c: And yours are amazing**  
  
 **TheF0x: You're making me so horny, stop it haha**  
  
 **BeansDirkMen: not sorry. can't wait until you come home, college boy. study hard ;)**

****  
  
  


Through the next three weeks Aiden has almost gotten used to getting these random messages at all times. Mostly in the least suiting moments.

**BeansDirkMen: Hello gorgeous, have a minute? ;)**

**BeansDirkMen: I had a dream about you last night. Not one I'd tell my mother about.**

**BeansDirkMen: Hey, how are you, hun? c:**

Some were way more dirty though and Aiden tried very hard to be alone in those moments.

**BeansDirkMen: If you were here, would you want me to fuck you?**

**BeansDirkMen: Tell me what you'd do to me.**

And Aiden did. Not because he was forced to do it, but because he was eagerly waiting for every new text. He was the one to start conversation several times, but usually he just waited. Not because he didn't want to talk to him, but because Aiden craved reassurance that Beans really wanted to give him attention.

They didn't talk only about sex either, though Pearce was almost sure that's where their contacts would end.

**BeansDirkMen: Work was hell today. Sorry, going straight to bed. You can start the party without me c':**

**TheF0x: Yeah? Well before I get to it, tell me about it. Always happy to get some technobabble ;)**

**BeanDirkMen: You sure? I'm afraid it's not much fun. My boss was being a dick, I don't usually have problems with...**

And they went on. It didn't change their relations a lot. Aiden was telling him about college and Beans was telling him about things he did in college himself. Pearce didn't even realise at which point he started looking forward to getting a message from his new friend when he came home from work, or a "good morning" right after he woke up.

"You're addicted to your phone, honey," Mrs Pearce told Aiden at one point, when he checked his phone for new messages for the third time while they were having dinner. "What do you even look at so much? Facebook?"

Aiden looked away while taking another bite of the chicken Nicole has cooked. "I'm just chatting with a... friend," he said after a while and Nicky snorted. "Yes, a friend."

"You should invite them over for dinner sometimes," their mother said and Aiden just shook his head.

"He's not from Chicago, mom."

"He probably isn't even real," Nicky added under her breath and felt Aiden's sharp glare on her. "What? You don't even have friends at college besides that weird Asian dude. No way you attracted someone from outside."

"Thanks sis, you really boost my confidence every day," the man said rolling his eyes and picking up his phone again. It vibrated in his grip as he got a notification from Skype.

** BeansDirkMen: I'd sell my soul to be inside you right now, Fox. **

Aiden gulped and smirked lightly, putting away the phone and continuing to eat. He felt another message arrive, but didn't check it, not expecting anything less dirty.

Mrs Pearce sighed and looked scoldingly first at Nicky and then at Aiden. "You kids will be the death of me."

Aiden felt his phone vibrate again and couldn't help but grab it and look at the text shortly. He felt the heat on his cheeks and hurried to finish eating the food on his plate.

**BeansDirkMen: I can't look away from the pictures you sent me. I want to touch every piece of your skin ;)**

** BeansDirkMen: Then I would also kiss and lick every piece of you. Very, very slowly. **

"Thanks Nick, it was delicious," he murmured and put the dishes into the sink before emerging to his room and shutting the door. Nicky and Mrs Pearce just exchanged looks.

** TheF0x: Give me a warning next time, almost got a boner next to my mother. **

Aiden locked the door and lied down on his bed, leaning against the pillows. He didn't wait long for another answer.

** BeansDirkMen: Sorry, haha. Didn't know you were _that_ sensitive. **

** TheF0x: You were just pretty... specific. I like that though, and I do have some free time right now. **

**BeansDirkMen: Great ;) What are you wearing?**

 

 

 

It wasn't even that Damien was horny every time he texted his new friend, or when he received the text. He could be in the middle of fixing hardware at some client's place or just doing his daily chores while messaging him. He realised that his Fox needed entertainment and he could definitely give it to him, receiving some juicy material to his stock. Material that could be reused.

** BeanDirkMen: Great ;) What are you wearing? **

Damien messaged him while putting some dark clothes into the washing machine. He turned on the laundry and walked over to the living room again, sitting down on the couch.

** TheF0x: A sweater and a pair of jeans. Currently lying down on the bed and wondering if I could start the party without you, or if I should wait ;) **

Brenks snorted. He didn't expect to come this far to actually have an inside joke with this man, hell, he never expected to talk to him about anything besides his dick. Damien's pet was getting more and more interesting though, and Damien didn't plan to stop talking to him anytime soon. He didn't even realize when he lost touch with all his other similar 'friends', since he was so absorbed by this sex freak.

** BeansDirkMen: If I was there I'd be all over you already, you know that, haha. Tell me what you'd like me to do. **

They almost always started like this or something in this style nowadays. The entire awkwardness was long gone and when they needed something, they just asked. Damien knew that this nerd was almost always online and he couldn't say that he was bothered by it; quite the opposite.

** FoxDude: I want you to fuck me. Just like that; I want you to fuck me. **

** BeansDirkMen: You can be more specific, you know ;)) **

** FoxDude: What way would you like me? **

Damien didn't answer for a longer moment, wondering what he could tell him this time. What way _did_ he want to take him? Any way, really, if he could only do it in real life.

** BeansDirkMen: Send me some pictures and I'll decide what seems most attractive right now ;) **

Damien lied down on the couch and waited for the pictures, which he was sure would come sooner or later. They always did. He unzipped his jeans and let his hand down inside of them, letting out a sigh as they did so. The Fox definitely made him feel good throughout the days and in return he stayed up with him, talking about everything and nothing almost every night. Damien was surprised how quickly he actually became friends with his toy. He was slightly surprised when realized that he was more than mildly interested by his personality, maybe even more than by his gorgeous body.

He smiled faintly when he saw the first picture appear on his screen. He had to agree that FoxDude's gorgeous body was also very interesting.


	4. [Offline?]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes Damien maybe wishes he could be more subtle.

**BeansDirkMen: /online/**

**BeansDirkMen: Morning, Foxie c:**

**TheF0x: Jfc, I told you to not call me that, it sounds super gay hahaha**

**BeansDirkMen: Well, that's the opposite of a problem ;) Outfit for the day?**

**TheF0x: It's Sunday morning, dude. I'm naked still ;P**

**BeansDirkMen: That's what I hoped for tbh. Pics or didn't happen ;)**

Damien lied down on the bed with a cup of coffee and 4chan opened on the laptop in his lap. It was snowing heavily again, so he didn't even feel the slightest desire of getting up.

Soon, the pictures arrived showing the other man's naked torso, his groin covered by a white blanket. Damien snorted, seeing how FoxDude wanted to tease him, showing much less skin than usual.  
  
 **BeansDirkMen: You and that sexy happy trail of yours ;) What's up for the day?**  
  
 **TheF0x: I promised sis to drive her and her friends to Woodfield, so I'll probably hang out with the kids for a while. And you?**  
  
Damien frowned when he saw that name. No way he could mean the same Woodfield that Damien thought about, the mall in downtown Chicago. More exactly, not very far from where he lived. He hesitated before typing, wondering if he should ask or if he should just act clueless... but he felt a small thrill when he thought about that he could maybe see the Fox in real life.

Brenks considered his possibilities and finally decided that it was one of the few chances he had to bring it up.

**BeansDirkMen: You mean like Chicago Woodfield?**

**TheF0x: ...yeah? What about it?**

Damien grinned at the screen and shifted on the bed, taking a sip of his coffee.

**BeansDirkMen: Wanna meet up? ;)**

  
  


It would be an understatement to say that Aiden's heart skipped a beat when the last message arrived. He stared at his phone with his eyes wide as he forgot to breathe for a moment, sitting up on the bed rapidly.

What did he mean, 'meet up'? He lived nearby? Illinois? Maybe even Chicago? Aiden started tapping on the backside of his phone with his finger, unable to answer for another minute.

**BeansDirkMen: Fox? D:**

Pearce sighed quietly. Of course his conversation partner was getting impatient, but what should he even write? Yes, he wanted to meet him so badly, but just the thought that the other man probably had some expectations that he would be a certain way when they met... Aiden was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to quite meet up to them.

**TheF0x: No way.**

**BeansDirkMen: Why?**

"Aiden? Andy will be here in twenty, can you hurry?" shouted a female voice from behind the door, followed by it opening. Aiden flinched and looked towards the doorway, pulling up the blanket over his chest automatically to cover himself from his sister's gaze.

"Knocking," he hissed, glancing down onto his phone again. "You should learn it."

**BeansDirkMen: I mean it's no big deal. Just would be fun if you're from Chicago too, seriously, what are the odds hahah**

Aiden frowned. It really was quite ridiculous, what _were_ the odds? From all he knew they were in the same time zone, but he would never guess they were in the same city.

**BeansDirkMen: We could go bang somewhere and then not do that again if it's too awkward**

**BeansDirkMen: I just honestly want to see your face ;)**

**BeansDirkMen: Preferably close to my dick hahaha**

Aiden sighed and felt a faint blush creep up onto his neck and he wanted to reply straight away, but he heard Nicky say something more, which he didn't quite catch. "What?" 

"Listening. You should learn it," Nicole sighed and leaned against the door frame, tossing back her light hair. "I said that we'll need to pick up Amy at her house, so we have to leave in like thirty minutes."

The man wheezed and put away his phone, scowling at her. "Remind me, why do we have to go so early?"

"The festival starts at two, we want to be there earlier," Nicky explained once again while tilting her head with an impatient expression.

"Boring," Aiden mumbled under his breath and yawned, jumping up a little when he heard another notification which he couldn't check in that moment. He looked up to Nicole while rubbing his eyes, already knowing that he must've looked quite worn out after last night. Beans didn't go to sleep until very late... or rather very early, which made Aiden want to stay up as well, even though he knew that the consequences wouldn't be pleasant. "Give me like fifteen minutes," he finally said, looking up through his fingers. "I'm naked," he added, when Nicky didn't react and still stood right there in the doorway.

"What, stayed up all night taking dumb pictures again? So proud," she muttered sarcastically and rolled her eyes before stepping out of the room. "Coffee?"

"Coffee," Aiden agreed, ignoring her previous statement and hurrying to reach out for his phone, hearing the short, characteristic sound of a message getting delivered.

**BeansDirkMen: I bet you're beautiful c:**

**BensDirkMen: Hey?**

**TheF0x: Are you aware just how awkward that would be?**

**BeansDirkMen: Yes.**

**TheF0x: And? You're not bothered by it? o.o**

**BeansDirkMen: Not a bit ;)**

Aiden wheezed and flopped down onto the bed again, holding up the phone above his face with a grumpy expression. It didn't annoy him that the other man was so straightforward, but the fact that he himself couldn't come up with any real reason why he got so upset and opposed to the idea, that made him really uncomfortable. After all, just a few days earlier he was writing to Beans about how much he would want to be there. He did it so many times, in fact, but it was because... he never thought he would actually ever have that possibility, so he just acted quite... nasty. Aiden's cheeks started to sting him a little when he recalled all the dirty messages he sent to that man in the span of these weeks. All the 'what would you's' and the 'if I was there's' suddenly hit him in the face in the form of a wave of heat. No way he could meet someone to whom he wrote these messages and sent all those pictures.

**BeansDirkMen: Sorry, maybe I'm a little inconsiderate. I just got excited c':**

A small snort escaped Aiden and he didn't answer at first, just sat up on the bed reaching out for the sweater which he tossed onto the floor the night before.

Inconsiderate. That wasn't the word, not what Aiden would call it. After all it wasn't Beans' fault that he was bold, Pearce would be very much surprised if he acted differently after all the things they've been talking about and done. Honestly, he just waited for something like this to occur... His location made it so much more awkward though.

With a sigh, Aiden pulled the sweater on over his head and he grabbed the phone again.

**TheF0x: I have to go off now. Ttyl?**

**BeansDirkMen: ...**

**BeansDirkMen: Sure. Just be careful, alright?**

Aiden furrowed his eyebrows and stroked his chin with his fingers. Was his friend mad at him? It was hard to tell through the screen, but for some reason the last texts felt heavy, tense in some way. He appreciated the change of topic though, even if he was aware that it wouldn't just disappear when neglected.

**TheF0x: Always ;) See you around.**

**TheF0x: /offline/**


	5. [Berechnungen]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damien's neighbours are annoying and Aiden doesn't quite know what the hell he's doing with his life; the usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while! Don't worry, [Needles] will get updated soon too, I just didn't have my laptop around and I have like half a chapter on it c':

If Damien didn't know better, he could maybe think that FoxDude has forgotten about that embarrassing conversation after a few weeks, because very soon they were just as anonymous and raunchy as usual. Brenks knew at least two things now though; the other man lived in Chicago and he was for some reason terrified of the idea of them two meeting.

Damien swiped his phone screen, impatiently awaiting another message as he walked through the city in the light from lampposts with an unlit cigarette between his lips. He didn't quite crave the smoke anymore, but God, he just couldn't get rid of that annoying tingling in his body when his mouth wasn't busy. He wiggled the cig with his teeth and pushed his hands and the phone in the pocket of his jacket, realizing that he couldn't quite walk around with his hands out like that all the time. February was ending, but it was sure still cold, very cold. He looked up when he felt his shoulder bump against some man who quickly excused himself and quickened his steps, making Damien turn his head to follow him with his gaze absentmindedly. He huffed through his nose and went back to walking, seeing the light neon of a grocery store in the distance. In that moment he realized that he could meet his internet friend just like that, just bump into him on the street... though it's not like they would ever recognise each other, as none of them has seen the other one's face, but...

"Watch it, old man," he heard a grumpy voice from a little below his line of sight, making him flinch as he got pulled out of his thoughts. "You're not the only one on the sidewalk."

Brenks looked down, realizing that the obstacle wasn't at all moving out of his way, and he saw that it was a slightly smaller man who was looking up to him and squinting his dark eyes. Damien huffed through his nose and took a step to the side to get out of his way. He didn't have time for rude Asian kids, he thought and eyed the smaller man a last time before trying to pass him... when the guy suddenly moved more to the side and bumped into his shoulder again.

"What is your problem?" Damien growled, turning to face him and to his surprise, seeing the stranger grin widely.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently, looking at him in a cheeky, daring way.

Brenks kept eye contact with him for a moment, trying to proceed this situation with his brain. Was this skinny kid trying to provoke him? For what reason?

"I don't have time for handling annoying high school kids," he said out loud this time, tilting his head and sighing loudly as he managed to push him away in a manner that wasn't exactly gentle, before walking right past him

"I won't be offended by an insult coming from someone with such an ugly hat. Who wears a beanie in their forties?" the Chinese guy shouted after him in a mocking tone.

"Hey, I'm not even..." Brenks growled and turned around, but somehow the other man was already gone; maybe he turned into one of the smaller alleys.

 _Sneaky bastard_ , Damien thought and grunted annoyed. He'd very much like to speak some more to this guy, preferably with a fist to his face. Finally he just sighed and continued walking in the direction he walked towards at first: back home from work. He wanted to be grumpy about the rude attitude aimed at him for no reason, but soon he got distracted by the sound of a message coming from his pocket. A faint smile curved his lips as he picked up the phone and swiped to the notifications.

**TheF0x: I wanna try something different today tho**

**BeansDirkMen: Like what? c:**

He frowned, wondering what his Fox could mean by that. After all, they've probably done almost all the things two adult people with a stable internet connection and a lack of social life could do. Damien didn't quite send him pictures of anything besides his chest, so his first guess was that his friend would want something more... not that he blamed him, he was probably very curious at this point. After a moment he sighed, looking up on the snowy street, as he was getting closer to the familiar grey block, which was looking quite uninviting if looked at objectively. Not like Damien cared, he was happy with his apartment, and because of how shady this neighbourhood was, even the muggers rarely came around here. Or maybe they did, but they were aware of Damien carrying around a knife and murder in his eyes. He didn't mind having such a reputation in that neighbourhood though; the elderly German ladies living upstairs adored him, and that was pretty much enough to not make him look problematic. After all, it's a well known fact that elderly ladies don't befriend shady, dangerous people.

Damien picked up his phone and continued walking the right way, starting to wiggle the cigarette with his lips again.

**TheF0x: Idk, we haven't talked on cam yet ;)**

Brenks lift his eyebrows and huffed through his nose. He was right, they haven't. Actually, Damien has asked about it before, but his friend didn't seem interested, especially because he didn't want to show his face or speak... He changed his mind?

**BeansDirkMen: I don't have a cam though :c**

**TheF0x: Doesn't matter, I just want to hear you**

**BeansDirkMen: You want me to speak? ;)**

**TheF0x: ...no, not speak ;)**

Damien snorted and put away his phone for a moment once he reached the stairs and walked up them, picking up his keys and reaching his level, when he suddenly flinched, feeling something warm against his leg...

"Sauerkraut, leave Herr Brenks alone," he heard a screechy female voice from upstairs. He just sighed and looked down, picking up the grey and white Persian cat and pulled it up to his chest. It felt, looked and smelled just like a pile of dust, just as always, and it make Damien's nose tickle. Sauerkraut started purring immediately and ground his head against Damien's chin strip. "I thought he wanted to get out, but he just heard Herr Brenks come home," the woman laughed, speaking with an almost indistinguishable German accent. Damien heard her always throw in some words in her mother language, but he suspected that she didn't do that out of habit, but just because she wanted to sound a little more pretentious.

"Good afternoon, Mrs Fruehauf," Damien said with a smile and walked up the last few steps before the highest level. He stopped a few steps below the elderly lady, just to have his face on her line of sight when he slowly pulled the cat off his chest and stretched out his arms to pass it to her.

"It's _Miss_ Fruehauf," she giggled and winked at him and Damien had to do his best to not roll his eyes. She said that every time, and he knew that it was a lie, as he met her now separated husband. He also knew that it was a lie that Sauerkraut heard him arrive to his apartment; the cat was almost deaf and only used as a bait to make Damien go out in the middle of the night and search for him after the older or the younger of the Fruehauf sisters threw the poor animal out through the window, so Brenks would have to bring him up and stay over for tea. He cringed just when he thought about that ridiculously sweet drink.

Miss Fruehauf took the cat from him and kissed it on the nose, making Damien cringe harder when he saw the cat just stick his tongue out and drool a little as in response. He very much preferred the other Fruehauf cat which was a skinny, elegant lady called Pumpernickel. At least she was smart enough to not be used as a bait for significantly younger men's company.

"Ah yes, _Miss_ Fruehauf," Damien said and tried to make his short laugh not sound _all_ too fake. He looked down at his shoes when he heard a Skype notification again. He didn't want to be rude to his neighbour, but there were some priorities in his life; satisfactory cyber sex being one of them. "I'll see you some other day, Miss. I've got some programming to do for tomorrow," he lied, just as he did many times before.

The lady shrugged and sighed, keeping quiet for a moment as if she expected Damien to say something else, something about how he could spare one hour or two to come in for some coffee or tea, but when an answer like that never came and Damien just turned around and went down the stairs to unlock his door, Miss Fruehauf got quite resigned.

" _Auf Wiedersehen_ , Herr Brenks," she said overdramatically and stroked the cat's head before backing into her apartment again.

"Yeah, goodbye, Miss," Damien mumbled and finally opened the door, quickly locking it behind him when he stepped inside. The first thing he did, was of course to pick up his phone, wondering just what more his conversation partner could have written.

**TheF0x: You'd want me with my mask on or just with my face outside the screen? ;)**

**BeansDirkMen: If I got it my way, I'd want to _see_ your face. **

**TheF0x: That's not one of the options haha, I could let you hear my voice though, would you like that?**

Brenks grinned to himself. Oh hell yes, he wanted to hear his voice.

He took off his jacket and beanie, ruffling up his hair a little and kicking off his shoes. Because of how dark it was outside already, the entire apartment was just dimly illuminated by the orangeish light of streetlights and the setting sun, partially blocked out by the blinds which were almost fully drawn in Brenks' bedroom, when he walked into it. He tossed his bag onto the floor and picked out the cigarette from his mouth, laying it on the bedside table before he sat down on the bed and took a deeper breath when he picked up his laptop. Once it started booting up, Damien saw another message on his phone.

**TheF0x: I could moan your name if you want that ;) Just let me know what it is.**

Damien looked at the message for a moment, definitely tempted by that option. He looked up to his laptop, wondering if FoxDude was up to do this now, or if he meant later tonight... because Damien would prefer getting him now, especially after getting teased by him all day.

 

 

 

Aiden nearly never spent time in the living room or in the kitchen, even when neither Nicole or his mother were at home. He usually just locked the front door, grabbed snacks from the fridge and brought an armful of them into his room, locking it behind him out of habit, and carefully putting the snacks onto the bed. Or the floor. This time it just so happened to be the floor, because Aiden wanted to sit down on it himself. He had his laptop opened before him and on his stationary computer on the desk in the other part of the room, he turned on some music from Spotify.

 _Maybe living alone wouldn't be so bad after all,_ he thought as he stuffed a handful of jelly beans into his mouth and opened up Skype again.

**BeansDirkMen: You're home alone that you're suggesting things like that? ;)**

**TheF0x: Yup, finally haha 8D**

**BeansDirkMen: Maybe I'll just come over?**

Aiden snorted and rubbed his cheek with a grunt. Of course Beans would ask about it, or at least joke about it. And the worst part was that Aiden found himself being very tempted to accept the offer. He let his hand slid down his face and he let out a louder breath, shutting his eyes and frowning, almost as if the thought gave him physical pain. He really _wanted_ Beans here, he wanted to touch him and to just let him do all the things they were talking about in the past weeks... but he just couldn't get himself to write these few words; the 'yes' and an address.

**TheF0x: Don't be dumb, we spoke about it c": So what, wanna call?**

He hoped that the message didn't quite show how uncomfortable he was. He wanted to thank everyone up above and all the other beings that were maybe responsible for making texting a thing, so he wouldn't have to fake a carefree expression and tone of voice when saying that.

**BeansDirkMen: Of course ;) I'll keep quiet and and just let you do your thing.**

Aiden smiled to himself, pleased that Beans didn't talk more about the meeting. He really wasn't in the mood for that now, he was in the mood for something much better.

**TheF0x: Good, I just want to... You know, hear you ;) Alright, one last thing before I call, your name?**

  
**BeansDirkMen: Damien ;)**

"Damien," Aiden read in low voice. "Damien," he repeated and smiled faintly. It felt great in his mouth.


	6. [Say_It_Louder]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Webcams and sexual frustration might just be the best combination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back on a flow, it's quite amazing after such a long writer's block hahah
> 
> Enjoy!

Damien did his best to answer the call immediately. His pulse was peaking and he almost forgot to breathe, turning up the volume and shifting a little on the bed as he kept his eyes fixed on the profile picture of the other man's Skype. For a few seconds he heard nothing, followed by a quiet sigh on the other side of the line and some tapping on the keyboard.

**TheF0x: One sec, my cam is not responding ._.**

Damien snorted quietly when he heard some shuffling and a quiet curse, just a faint whisper.

**TheF0x: Hey, don't laugh at me D: < **

**BeansDirkMen: Yeah sure, sorry hahah**

But Damien couldn't help but laugh at just how ridiculous this situation was. He'd be way more comfortable with speaking out loud, but if for whatever reason his friend didn't want that, he wouldn't try to make him. He rubbed his temples and waited. 

**TheF0x: There we go**

Damien looked up to the screen before him, seeing that the picture was loading. Then he saw the other man's t-shirt and a part of his chin, though just for a moment, because once the Fox realized his face was visible, he tilted down the camera a little more. It was all faintly lit by the whitish light from the screen and from some lamp further away. Brenks tilted his head and smiled slightly, 

**BeansDirkMen: Hello, gorgeous ;) I would be more than fine if you at least let me see your lips, you know that?**

The other man sighed and gestured him with his hand to wait. Then his chest disappeared from the screen completely, and Damien realized that he must've been sitting on the floor... well not anymore, because FoxDude stood up and put the laptop on the bed. Before he sat down on it, the only thing that Damien could see were packages of snacks and candies scattered all over the sheets.

**BeansDirkMen: You did some fetish shooting? 8D**

FoxDude sat down on the bed more comfortably with his legs spread and the laptop between them. When he put some of the candies out of the way, he leaned forwards again to fix the camera, tilting it back up. It showed his face almost up to his nose, and Damien looked at him as if mesmerized, when he grinned and shook his head.

**TheF0x: I wasn't sure if you'd want to do it now, so I gathered some distractions to munch on while waiting ;) I'm constantly hungry.**

**BeansDirkMen: Feel free to eat something before we start hahah**

**TheF0x: Dumbass**

**BeansDirkMen: Just saying 8D**

Damien took a deeper breath and saw that his friend relaxed a tiny bit more, and he actually _did_ reach out for a candy bar. He snorted and started laughing even more. 

**TheF0x: What, just listening to you hahah**

**BeansDirkMen: I was _joking_ **

**TheF0x: Food is never a joke c":**

While the Fox was munching on his candies, Damien peeled his gaze away from him for a moment and looked at the background, seeing clothes piled up next to the bed and some bookshelves on both sides of it. He smirked when he saw the Guy Fawkes mask hanging on a nail on the wall next to the bed.

**BeansDirkMen: Do I see MGS action figures on that shelf?**

The man turned his face to the shelf which Damien meant and he smiled awkwardly, before swallowing and shrugging slightly. 

**TheF0x: Can't say no. Don't judge D:**

**BeansDirkMen: I don't hahaha, you just never told me about it ;) And I see the obligatory Harry Potter series too.**

**TheF0x: I think I'm done with eating, or you'll find some other shit**

**BeansDirkMen: Oh God is that what I think it is? Is that Fifty Shades of Grey?**

**TheF0x: STOP LOOKING AT MY STUFF**

Damien huffed through his nose and sighed when he saw FoxDude pick up the book and hold show it to the camera.

**TheF0x: Sis wanted to read it and didn't believe me it's shit. So I had to buy it and keep it so mom wouldn't find it, don't judge D:**

**BeansDirkMen: You're ridiculous :D**

**TheF0x: Hurtful, Damien**

Brenks lift his eyebrows at the use of his name. Written like that, it looked quite odd. Not bad, just odd.

**BeansDirkMen: What's your real name?**

The Fox put away the book and grasped the lower part of his t-shirt, pulling it off over his head. Damien thought he saw a glimpse of his entire face before the man tossed the piece of clothing onto the bed next to him. Already the next moment he unzipped his jeans and only then reached out to the laptop.

**TheF0x: Not telling ;)**

Brenks sighed louder and made the other man laugh quietly. The sound was strange to his ears, but nice. He didn't quite hear FoxDude's voice as much as he would like to yet, but even that quiet chuckle was pretty much enough to make him a little excited for what was yet to come. He looked at his body with a small smile, noticing how nicely different it was from the pictures. Thanks to the good quality of his camera, Damien could see his muscles tense a little when he bent forwards to slowly slip off his jeans, only leaving a pair of dark boxer briefs on. 

**BeansDirkMen: Why so fast, Mr Not Telling? ;))**

 

 

 

Aiden grinned wider and leaned back against the wall, having to tilt down the cam a little again to not show all too much. He wouldn't answer Damien's question, it didn't need to be answered. He just didn't want him to see any more embarrassing things on his bookcases, and he also wanted to get started at this point. Just the quiet breaths and huffs he heard from the other side of the line were enough to make his body feel a little warmer. The knowledge alone that Damien was watching him in the exact moment, made Aiden's knees grow weak and his palms sweaty, even if he didn't even quite start. He felt the sweet taste of the strawberry candy bar in his mouth and he licked his lips absentmindedly, hearing a louder sigh escape the other man.

**BeansDirkMen: Touch yourself for me**

It was quite a fast change of subject, but Aiden didn't mind it the slightest. He bit down on his lower lip, letting his hand run down his chest and stomach. He would touch himself, alright, he would do that with pleasure, and not only the one coming from the obvious sources. He liked when Damien did that, when he talked to him as if he didn't even expect a different answer than agreement.

His hands felt cold against his ribs and Aiden hissed quietly, shutting his eyes for a few seconds. He felt so exposed in this moment, and for a good reason, but it was the good kind. It was the same kind he liked when posting on Reddit.

**BeansDirkMen: Look at that, what a good boy ;) Go on**

Aiden felt a blush creep up his neck. He never liked being called that, but Beans... _Damien_ has changed it. Just the way he wrote it every time... Aiden was actually tempted for a moment to ask him to say it out loud... but he didn't. Maybe he was scared that Damien would expect more of him if he wanted something more? Or maybe because that felt so much more personal and he was too shy to ask for it, even considering the situation.

Breathing in louder through his mouth, Aiden let his fingers travel in beneath the hem of his boxers, playing with it teasingly.

**BeansDirkMen: Faster, please**

**TheF0x: Getting impatient aren't we? ;)**

**BeansDirkMen: Shut up haha**

Aiden grinned and slipped in his hand into his boxers, wrapping his fingers around his length and squeezing himself a little, letting out a shaky breath. His other hand reached out to type and he had to shift a little more as he spread his legs wider. 

**TheF0x: shit, my hand is cold hhh**

**BeansDirkMen: Not for very long I presume haha**

**TheF0x: true hahaha, it feels... odd**

**BeansDirkMen: ok so apparently my hands are cold too, go figure**

  
Aiden couldn't help but start laughing shortly. He moved the hand from the keyboard and up to his face, caressing his stubble and chin. Once he shut his eyes this was so much easier, more natural. 

His volume was turned up to the highest setting so he heard every louder breath and hiss coming out from the other man's mouth and it just felt so good, so _close_ when he didn't look. As if it was just him and Damien right before him, waiting to touch him all the ways he wanted to, to kiss him as hard as Aiden yearned for it...

"Yes..." Pearce whimpered gently and opened his eyes for a moment to check if he received a new message.

**BeansDirkMen: put your fingers in your mouth, fox**

Aiden obeyed quickly, feeling his blood rush with every word that got sent to him. His cock was already responding to his caresses, growing harder with each stroke, each passing second.

**BeansDirkMen: there we go ;) let's take these boxers of, shall we?**

Aiden nodded again and moved his hand away from his length for a moment, slipping down his underwear. He put his legs together awkwardly to remove the boxers entirely and went back to his earlier position, not waiting for another text from Damien telling him what to do; he knew exactly what to do. Or.. he thought he did. 

**BeansDirkMen: slow down, it's not a race ;)**

Aiden just hissed through his nose. Both his hands and mouth were quite busy at this moment, so he couldn't answer to that comment. He sucked on his fingers harder but slowed down his strokes, just to hear that praise he liked so much.

**BeansDirkMen: good boy ;))**

Aiden heard Damien sigh louder on the other side of the line. It sounded raspy and low, just as Pearce has imagined it to be. And he loved it. From the sound of it, Damien loved it too.

**BeansDirkMen: i'd love to touch you, fox**

**BeansDirkMen: too bad i can only touch myself, thinking about how good you must feel...**

Aiden gasped quietly and pulled the fingers out of his mouth, moving them down to his chest again. He wanted... no, he _needed_ Damien to write more. His body needed him, as it was getting so much hotter after every time he read a new message. He glanced up to check if he left the window open and yes, it was letting in cold air, which in normal circumstances would make him never want to leave the bed or even take his clothes off. Now it was just soothing, just like the coldness of his hands, now getting slowly warmed up by the rest of his body...

**BeansDirkMen: you're beautiful, fox**

**BeansDirkMen: say my name**

Aiden gasped quietly and, despite Damien's words, started touching himself faster again. He needed that, he wanted to moan for that man, please him visually and all the other ways... because he was giving him all that in return. Aiden's hand caressed his chest and collar bones as he just checked briefly if his face wasn't fully uncovered and thankfully it wasn't.  

"Nhh... Damien..." he let out quietly, just mumbling the name, as it still felt odd in his mouth. He needed to taste it, to feel it out and to just say it the way that really made him associate it with the man behind the nickname he usually used.

**BeansDirkMen: louder, fox**

Aiden sighed and chuckled quietly, tossing his head back. It felt so awkward, just moaning someone's name in an empty room... but on the other hand, he _knew_ that the person whose name has been on his mind for a while now, watched and heard all of it. And enjoyed it.  

"Fuck," he cursed under his breath and moaned, too turned on to form words properly. "Damien, yes..." he finally groaned and drew in a deeper breath. He heard Damien gasp and purr into the microphone, followed by some shuffling and a louder breath.

**BeansDirkMen: that's it, just like that ;) enjoying yourself?**

"Yes. Yes, I am," Aiden mumbled before thinking. He covered the lower part of his flushed face after that, when he heard Damien snort.

**BeansDirkMen: don't be shy haha, go on**

Aiden tried to reassemble his quick breathing, but it was quite hard to do now that he was touching himself again.

**BeansDirkMen: spit on your hand, this is too slow for me now**

Aiden snorted and moved the hand from his chest and down to the laptop.

**TheF0x: too slow for YOU? what about me hahah**

**BeansDirkMen: shh, just let me enjoy the show ;)  
**

**TheF0x: how much are you enjoying it now? c:**

There was silence for a longer moment, making Aiden wonder if the call hasn't gotten disconnected, but he was soon proved otherwise.

"I enjoy it a lot, Fox," said a quiet, gravelly voice on the other side of the line, followed by a deep sigh. Aiden's breath hitched in his chest, and he felt that his face must've lit up like a Christmas tree, when he heard those few words. His lips trembled but he didn't say anything, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. He hurried to actually spit on his hand and quicken his movements up and down his length, filled with a sudden wave of heat. 

"Y...yeah..." he whimpered and opened his mouth wider. "Oh God," he whined and covered his mouth again, stroking himself faster, hearing louder breaths coming from the other man.

**BeansDirkMen: come while moaning my name, fox**

Damien didn't have to write it twice. Aiden was already halfway over the edge when he heard his voice earlier, now he didn't need more than a few more strokes to fully reach his climax. He curved his back and leaned more against the wall, letting out another quiet gasp as the feeling travelled through him like pleasant electric waves

"Fuck, Damien..." he groaned in a little raspy voice, his throat dry from breathing through his mouth for so long, before he slid down the wall a little lower. His free hand immediately shot up to cover his face once he realized it would be visible through the camera. His chest was trembling with every deep breath he took, but it was calming down pretty quickly, in opposite to Damien's. It took another moment before a gasp reached Aiden's ears, followed by a few shallower breaths. He smiled underneath the hand covering his face, when he heard some more shuffling from Damien, as Aiden just stroked himself these few last times before reaching out for tissues.

**BeansDirkMen: wow**

Aiden snorted and sat up straighter to be able to use both of his hands when wiping himself slowly.

**BeansDirkMen: Yup, now I know what we should do more often hahah**

Aiden grinned and wanted to answer the message, when a shiver crossed his body and he heard a sound outside in the apartment: the front door getting unlocked. He quickly disconnected and finished wiping himself, feeling his throat tighten with every passing second. Quickly he pulled on his jeans without bothering to put on his boxers and he just threw his t-shirt on, cleaning up the place from all the tissues. 

**BeansDirkMen: Something wrong? D:**

**TheF0x: Nonono, but my mom just got home. I'll see you later, thanks, it was fun c':**

**BeansDirkMen: Kiddo ;p**

**TheF0x: Shut up hahaha**

"Aiden? Are you at home?" he heard from the hall and he flinched again, standing up rapidly and trying to tame his hair a little.

"Yeah, hey mom," he shouted back and went towards the door, unlocking it and walking straight to the bathroom to wash his hands. Damien was Damien, but the groceries wouldn't unpack themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all guys who are reading my writing and leaving kudos, keeps me motivated c':  
> Please, take a moment to pick a line you like or something and just let me know what you think in the comments, I really appreciate it.


	7. [Between_The_Two_Of_Us]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys, so here we go, another chapter, a longer one this time c':
> 
> I think I'll reply to most comments here, I don't really like the mess in my comment section. I'm so happy to get some comments and kudos, I'm amazed that people are still reading my things <3
> 
> Niksilp, _*Sam*_, assventures - I'm very happy that you're enjoying this so much, I'm going to try to update more as soon as I can! 
> 
> Cake - I'm sorry, I forgot to reply to you earlier ;-;' I'm glad that you caught that anagram, I was waiting until someone would comment on that haha, it took me a good hour to pick one that I liked c': Not sure if you're still reading, but if you do, thank you for commenting.
> 
> evanfielding - Sure thing, Aiden will always be the good boy =u=
> 
> Yui Yuuji - Ooh, I'm super happy that you like the idea <3 It was supposed to be a much shorter story, but I think that I like that it turned out to be something this long.

Needless to say that it didn't take a long while before the next call. And another one. And one more. It was Damien's favorite activity after a day of work, coming home and just talking to his friend, sometimes getting a message telling him that the Fox had a moment alone for him. Over the few weeks, he has learned a lot about the other man's room, as he wasn't quite in the same spot every time. Damien was now aware of all the nerdy merchandise FoxDude owned, about how messy he was when it came to things such as clothes or books for different subjects... On the other hand, all the parts of the Assassin's Creed series were standing in order on one of the shelves, same about the Lord of the Rings books. FoxDude seemed to have his priorities sorted out right.

**TheF0x: You home soon? ;)**

**BeansDirkMen: I'm out of work in 30 minutes, busy yourself with something hahah**

**TheF0x: I'd like to busy myself with you**

"Brenks, can I ask you a favor?"

Damien grunted when he heard his coworker use this tone. It usually meant trouble, and he wanted to come home the usual time. Basing on these messages, he had some plans for this afternoon and he didn't want to be bothered by some imaginary problems Tobias had.

"Yes, Toby?" he asked, putting away his headset onto the desk and awaiting the bad news. It was never good news, not from Frewer.

"Look, Brenks... You know how I don't like traffic? And crossings? A-... and traffic lights on crossings?" Tobias murmured and looked away. Damien cocked an eyebrow and sighed louder. This has happened many times before and Tobias always had an excuse for why he couldn't go to a certain client this time.

"Let's hear it," he said and leaned back in his chair.

"Okay so I checked the maps and there's this address of a client... If I'd go one way, it's seven crossings. The other way is _thirteen_. And the last one is _twelve_ and I'd have to take a huge roundabout for any other route," Tobias said, opening the maps on his computer and turning the screen towards Damien.

"And?" Damien asked impatiently. He would ask, even if he already _knew_ that he would have to go there anyway.

"It's bad luck, Brenks, I can't go there," Tobias mumbled and rubbed his temples. By that point Damien already knew that he didn't even have a choice, as Frewer started freaking out as always. He patted his back awkwardly and stood up, grabbing his bag with equipment.

"I swear to god, Toby, one day I _will_ report you," he mumbled and reached out to him. "Car keys."

Tobias grinned and clasped his hands together, looking as if he was about to praise Damien till the end of time for taking yet another client off his hands. He picked up the keys from his pocket and tossed them to Damien, as if scared that he might change his mind.

"Jesus, thank you Brenks, thank you so, so..."

"Send me the address to my phone," Damien interrupted him and turned around to the exit already. He just hoped that the job wasn't all that hard, he didn't want to keep FoxDude waiting.

 

Once he got into the car, he understood maybe just why Tobias was scared of bad luck. It didn't quite have anything to do with the crossings, but rather with the March weather being rather awful. Damien hasn't been outside since he arrived to work, and now it was raining and snowing and the streets were covered in ice and water. Damien turned on the engine and drove out on the road, immediately getting stuck in the traffic. He sighed and picked up his phone, looking at the address which Tobias sent to him, and he realized that he recognized it fairly well, as it wasn't far from where his parents used to live before moving to Michigan.

**BeansDirkMen: Not sure if I can make it today :c**

**TheF0x: Why?**

**BeansDirkMen: Work got in the way. Toby is freaking out again**

Damien tapped in the address into his GPS and put away his phone when the lights switched to green and he drove out carefully towards the bigger street. It wasn't all that far, which was definitely good as Damien felt that he really wasn't in the mood for fighting through the city to get to the other side.

He wondered what kind of job this would be, hoping that it wouldn't take all too long. He was already longing for coming home and lying down on his warm bed... A small sigh escaped him and he turned on the next crossing as his GPS told him to, taking a moment to look at the message that popped up on his screen.

**TheF0x: At least give me something to think about while I'm waiting for you c:**

Damien sped up a little and sighed, putting the phone on top of his thigh to shift the gears.

Something to think about? he thought, furrowing his eyebrows. Before, he used to write long, detailed messages to the other man, they were nearly essays, all about the ways he wanted to touch him, feel him... he didn't quite have the time for that now, FoxDude should know that.

**BeansDirkMen: What are you doing rn?**

**TheF0x: Playing CoD. Playing music. Playing with myself...**

Damien snorted and looked up again when he saw that he was getting closer to the district he was heading for. He realized just how dumb it was to text while driving, especially in this weather, so he decided to let his phone be for a few minutes. His goal wasn't all too far away from his current location anyway.

He turned in between some apartment buildings and decided to change the route a little, when he saw that there was an accident ahead. He glanced down on the map and grunted quietly. If Toby chose this route, the crossing count would be nine, which, as far as he bothered to explain it to Damien, was a neutral number to him. Brenks sighed. He'd have to call him out on that bullshit once he got back to the office.

Finding a parking spot was slightly more difficult than Damien thought it would be, but eventually he stopped in front of the building with the address sent by Tobias. He checked again just which apartment it was supposed to be and headed for the doorwell, picking up his phone just to see a few new messages on his Skype.

**TheF0x: You should send me some more pics when you get home, the earlier ones got old quickly ;(**

**TheF0x: ...ok never mind, they were enough for me to come, good job**

**TheF0x: You there?**

Damien huffed through his nose as he walked through the unlocked door and up the stairs, looking around to find the door to the right apartment. Fox seemed to be very needy for him and Damien was a little annoyed that he couldn't take care of him right in that moment. _Very_ annoyed, if he had to be completely honest.

**BeansDirkMen: I really have to go to work now :/ Think about what pics you want me to send when I come back ;)))**

**TheF0x: Oh :c Yeah, I'll make sure to do that, good luck**

"Oh, good afternoon, sir," said a young woman, when Damien finally put away his phone, found the right apartment and knocked on the door. Brenks realized that she was wearing a coat and was clearly on her way out, despite having a technician coming over... She looked as if she was in big hurry too.  "I need to get some groceries, I'll just show you the problem and leave you here, alright?"

She spit out words very quickly, not even making sure that Brenks was the right person in the right place, but he didn't mind at all. It would just make it all faster. She looked at him with a soft smile, which Damien caught a short glimpse of before she turned around and gestured him to follow her further into the apartment.

"So basically this is really important, I have the project for tomorrow on this PC and the screen and keyboard seem to be all dead. Like..." the woman started talking as they entered the brightly illuminated kitchen and opened the laptop on the kitchen table. Damien looked around the room, seeing white painted furniture all around and the door to the living room on the wall across from the fridge. He turned around to the corridor, curiously looking at the few doors to the right, seeing that the apartment wasn't as big as he thought it would be in a pretty, neat building like this. "I _can_ turn it on and I hear it working but it doesn't really... well, nothing happens." Damien turned back to the woman who sighed loudly and sent him a small lopsided smile.

"Did you by any chance drop it, miss?" Damien asked, stopping himself from snorting when her expression turned into a slightly embarrassed one.

"Well... I did, but it still worked after that... I still wanna blame my brother, but he denies it all," she laughed nervously and looked at the time over Damien's head. "Alright, I have go, I'll pay when I'm back, shouldn't take too long. If you want coffee, take coffee. Bathroom is in the end of the corridor and if something happens, my brother is in his room. It's the one closest to the living room." The last words she said already back in the hall, right before Damien heard the front door shut and lock again.

He stared after her for a moment, needing a moment to take in the information. He breathed in louder and only now had a moment to put away the bag with the equipment, same about his coat, scarf and beanie. With a frown, he heard the laptop power up and he saw the small lamp next to the on switch start blinking. He sat down on the kitchen chair and lifted the laptop to check the model, when he felt his phone vibrate and he couldn't stop himself from picking it up.

**TheF0x: Help, should I study or finish that Skyrim mod?**

Damien smiled to himself and scratched his chin.

**BeansDirkMen: I've been asking you to go and study since yesterday, what do you think my answer will be? hahaha**

**TheF0x: Hmm... Maybe I'll at least get a coffee or something :/**

**BeansDirkMen: That's it, good boy ;))**

**TheF0x: ...but in a couple minutes. Gotta finish this match, see you when you get home <3**

Damien smiled at the screen and shook his head slightly, wondering if his friend would actually listen to him or just pretend like the last time, but finally he took a look on his work instead. Now without any distractions, Damien could look on the laptop carefully and he sighed again when the screen flashed when he pressed on it. He felt it in his bones that this device was long dead already and he wouldn't be able to fix it, at least not now when he didn't have any spare parts... He put away the computer and just looked at it with his arms crossed over his chest. That girl trusted him with that essay or whatever it was, he couldn't just tell her that fixing this would take longer than just until tomorrow, he thought and furrowed his eyebrows. Damien glanced down at his phone and eventually just picked up a USB wire, plugging in his phone to the laptop. Maybe he could leave the fixing part of the computer for later and now only use his less conventional methods. No one would have to know, he decided with a small smirk as he swiftly opened the panel to go around the security system of the laptop without confirming the access on the main device. He tapped on the phone in silence, frowning when he got kicked out the first time. This wasn't the default settings, someone has been playing around with this system... Damien flinched and looked behind himself when he thought he heard a door open and shut, but everything was still when he glanced to the corridor. He shrugged slightly and slowly turned back to his work. It probably wasn't anything he should get concerned about.

 

 _"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,"_ ran through Aiden's mind as he closed the door carefully and moved back to his room. Of course that his sister wouldn't let him know that she'd _leave_ when she called the IT to fix her computer. Of course that she'd just leave him alone in the apartment, unaware of the threat in the kitchen, making him almost go outside wearing just his boxers, it wouldn't be Nicole Pearce if she didn't do just that.

He looked around the room and grabbed some gray sweat shorts and a dark, loose tank top from the bed, running his fingers through his hair. It wasn't anything to worry about, he chanted in his head, he'd just go out there, make himself coffee, ask the technician if he wanted coffee too and then go back to his room. It couldn't be harder than that. Aiden took a deeper breath, rubbed his face, and pushed the door open, taking a few quiet steps out to the corridor.

The man at the kitchen table looked as if he hasn't noticed him yet, so Pearce finally started breathing again and walked a tiny bit louder to not make the situation awkward, as if he tried to sneak up on him... but when the technician turned around and looked up to him, he almost forgot how to breathe again as the calm, blue gaze of his eyes caught his and the man smiled at him slightly.

"I... uh..." Aiden just started in low voice and suddenly became very self conscious about his looks; about the wrinkly shorts and shirt, messy hair, pale face and the shadows under his eyes after a third day (and night) spent online without going outside to catch any air. "Want coffee?" he finally managed to mumble, fully forgetting that he was supposed to say something like 'hi' first. The stranger just smiled wider and looked down on his phone again. Aiden followed his gaze and saw some source code open on the smartphone, making him wonder just what he was doing.

"Yeah, thanks, sir," he said and continued tapping on the screen, as Aiden took another few nervous steps towards the kitchen counter and turned on the kettle. "I think I'll need to fix it at the office, I'll just get that essay out of it first," the technician added after a moment, when he probably noticed that Aiden watched him curiously. Realizing that, Aiden looked away slightly abashed. He didn't know what it was about this man that suddenly made him so awkward, if it was his great looks, some of the mannerism that he already managed to see, or maybe his voice, which reminded Aiden of someone, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Yeah... that... that sounds about right," he just murmured absentmindedly and looked to the laptop. The screen was still all black except for some small flickers every now and then. "Don't tell my sis that, but I was the one who dropped it. She'd straight up stab me if she knew," he added in a serious tone, without much thought put into it. The IT guy started laughing quietly and looked up to him with a sly smile.

"Of course, it'll stay between the two of us," he chuckled, and Aiden could swear that he saw him look up and down his body as if he was trying to discreetly check him out. His throat tightened and he smiled awkwardly, trying to push away that thought. Of course the man wasn't checking him out, that would be ridiculous, he was just imagining things...

He heard that the water started cooking and he turned around to pick out two mugs from the cupboard, soon grabbing the big jar of coffee from the counter and with annoyance realizing that his hand was shaking slightly.

"Two spoons?" he asked fleetingly, after he already poured two spoons into his own cup.

"Yes, just black," the man answered behind him and Aiden nodded, despite knowing that that gesture was pointless. He made the coffee, trying not to pour boiling water over himself out of the nerves, and then he walked up to the table, putting the mug in front of the other man. "Thank you," he murmured and Aiden hurried to move away a little, as if he was scared of touching him on accident.

"Uh... no problem," Pearce mumbled and grabbed the sugar bowl to pour some horrendous amount of sugar into it, just like always. He leaned his back against the counter, almost sitting on it, and picked up the coffee to sip on it slowly as he watched the blonde haired man work in silence. Or... he looked at his work only for a moment, soon looking down to his chest and shoulders and up to his face again, feeling a small heat pool up in his chest when he realized that his facial hair looked similar to that of the man he was very familiar with... It couldn't be him, right? No, of course it couldn't be him, it wasn't even an option, Aiden scolded himself for even thinking that.

He put away his cup on the counter and coughed quietly, pulling his gaze away from the man, but it soon returned to him. He glanced to his forearm to calm himself, just to make sure that this ridiculous scenario wasn't actually happening... and he saw nothing. The sleeve of the technician's blue shirt ended and uncovered pale skin, not the grayscale tattoo of a lighthouse. Good, it was fine, just a dumb coincidence... Aiden decided to slowly emerge from the kitchen, maybe actually study like he has promised, though now it would be mostly to distract himself from the dumb thoughts that still resided in his head. He didn't say a word before nearly jogging out of the kitchen, probably leaving the IT guy even more confused by his behavior.

 

When Damien looked up, the brother of his client was gone and the only thing left behind him was the steaming cup of coffee that still stood on the counter. Brenks locked his eyes on it for a moment and then looked around, but it didn't seem as if the other man was coming back... which was a big shame, because Damien found looking at him very enjoyable. He looked so... Damien couldn't quite describe why he looked interesting to him. He looked like he hasn't been shaving or slept for a couple days, his hair was a disaster and his loose clothes made it look as if he has just crawled out from a trash can, but Damien still looked at him in admiration. Maybe it was his eyes... he couldn't exactly see the color as the man kept looking away from him for some reason, but he saw that they were very bright and unusual, and made him want to look at them for a much longer time.

Brenks hesitated for a moment, but then decided to use this excuse to take a closer look at those eyes again. He stood up and walked up to the counter, rolling up both of his sleeves and picking up the cup. For a moment there he wondered which room it was, but keeping the young woman's words in mind, he just went to the door that was the closest to the living room and knocked on it, pushing it open when he heard a faint murmur in answer.

"Hey, you forgot your co..." Damien started, but he froze immediately when he stepped into the room. He thought his heart stopped for a moment there, when he took another half a step inside and just stood there with his mouth slightly open, looking around in bewilderment. There it was; the messy bed with white sheets that he saw in the morning, the pile of clothes beneath it and the greenish walls. There were the books and the MGS action figures, right next to the black and white mask and small Christmas lights, and there was the light brown desk with college papers and textbooks and with a hundred small gadgets and pens all over... Damien moved his gaze to the chair to search for the familiar leather bag, and at the same time, the other man stood up from it and walked over to the door to take the coffee from Damien, still not exactly knowing just why he looked so shocked.

"Thanks man, I can't believe I forgot about it," he said quietly, looking away the next moment, but Damien knew exactly just what color his eyes were, even despite not being able to see them clearly. The younger man took the mug from him, while Damien was still just standing still, not being able to say a thing. "Everything alright?" his Fox asked him, and only then glanced down on the forearm that he didn't bother to check earlier, and he froze as well, just staring at the tattoo on Damien's skin. Left forearm.  Not right.

"Uh..." Damien let out unintelligently and just moved his gaze up to the man's face, still trying to understand just how this situation could be an actual thing that was happening. "I..."

"No, shut up, get out," Aiden mumbled, moving his free hand to cover his face automatically. "Fuck, this isn't... holy shit...," he whispered under his breath and pushed Damien back out to the corridor, grabbing the door handle and separating them with the door the next moment. He leaned against it and unconsciously took a sip of coffee before walking up to the desk and putting it away. His hands were trembling and he had to clasp them together to not lose it completely when he heard that Damien opened the door again behind his back. "Get out, this isn't happening," Aiden said louder, feeling his face and neck grow warm. Suddenly the room felt ridiculously hot and he just took a few steps to the window to open it, without thinking about the action at all.

"Fox..."

"That's not my name," Aiden mumbled and refused to turn around as he started breathing heavily.

Damien just stood still behind him, looking around the room in confusion, soon letting his gaze linger on the other man once again. After a moment, he walked towards him unsurely and put his hand on his shoulder, but Aiden took another step away from him and only then slowly turned around. Damien noticed that his friend was slightly shorter than him, now that he was standing less than a yard away from him. He was flushed, nervous and basically looked as if he really didn't want to be anywhere near him... or anywhere at all, for that matter.

"Go away," he mumbled and put his hand in Damien's chest to push him away when he made another step towards him. "You're not... you're not supposed to be here, go away, I don't want you here," he kept murmuring unconsciously, looking down at their feet not to catch Damien's gaze with his own.

"You said something different last night," Damien snorted, seeing the FoxDude's face suddenly go pale, probably when he thought about everything they were writing the night before. "And the night before..." Damien continued with a sigh, putting one of his hands on top of the other man's on his chest, and stroked it with his thumb. Aiden flinched visibly and wanted to pull away, but when Damien held him in place, he didn't try a second time.

"That was... different, alright? You were never supposed to... _we_ were never..." he said quietly and finally pulled away quickly, in result having to lean against the wall next to his window. "Get out," he repeated again, finally looking up to Damien, who just stared back at him, as if amazed of what was before him.

"I have work to do, I can't just leave a client," Damien sighed, but he looked at him with a visible shade of concern. "Uh... I'll go to the kitchen, finish my job and I'll leave..." he said quietly, still looking straight into Aiden's eyes, as if he wasn't able to turn away.

"Don't... Don't leave... I mean _yes_ you have to leave, I just don't... uh... Fuck, stop looking at me," Pearce mumbled and rubbed his cheek nervously, as his gaze dropped down to his feet.

Damien stared at him for another few seconds before finally turning away and glancing at the computer on the desk and then the cork board above it, filled with schedules and notes... He's seen it all before, and seeing it in real life felt just so weird.

"You're... you're different," Damien observed, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at him again. "I didn't expect you to be this."

"To be what?" Aiden growled, suddenly forgetting that he was supposed to be embarrassed.

"I don't know... this. I thought I was talking to FoxDude, but I don't think he's the same person that the one standing in front of me," Damien murmured, seeing that the angry look on the younger man's face turned into a more abashed one.

"Apparently that person is not fucking present," Aiden raised his voice and moved away the hand from his face. He took a deeper breath to calm himself down, followed by another one quite like it. He looked down from Damien's feet and up to his face again, scared to even take a step towards him. What were the odds... "Alright, let's start again, we have a moment before Nicky comes back."

Damien huffed through his nose and shook his head.

"Start again? How? I feel lied to."

"Lied to? How did I lie to you?" Aiden asked with his eyebrows furrowed.

"I know everything about you, just not... not about _this_ you," Damien murmured and tilted his head.

"You don't even know my name," Aiden growled. "Your knowledge is pretty fucking skinny."

"You never cared to share it."

"Aiden. Aiden fucking Pearce, there we go," Aiden finally burst and leaned harder against the wall, as his cheeks turned a darker shade of red. "Happy? What now, my favorite color? Or do you want to go straight to fucking me in the ass?" he whined sarcastically and they just stared at each other intensively for a long while, Aiden with anger and fear in his eyes and Damien being mostly surprised and trying very hard to find the right words, but it didn't seem as if he would.

"I'll be in the kitchen, just come and talk to me when you've calmed down," he said softly and backed out of the room, closing the door behind himself.

Aiden just stared after him in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed, please, comment or PM me about any errors or if there was something you liked/didn't liked or some lines in particular, that always makes me so happy.


	8. [Cheesecake_Coffee_and_Surprises]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awkward dates are the best dates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yes, so here it is. It's been... it's been way too long haha, I hope that the fact that this chapter is quite long compensated for that at least a little ;u;'  
> Thank you for the comments! You guys kept pushing me to write more, it's a big help ;u; 
> 
> I hope you're going to enjoy this chapter <3

 

* * *

 

When Damien left the room, Aiden took a few steps towards the desk and collapsed onto the chair, spinning in it. He took a deep breath and looked at his computer screen and at the minimalized Skype icon in the bottom of the page. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that it blinked orange and he heard the characteristic notification sound.

**BeansDirkMen: Maybe you prefer texting, huh?**

**TheF0x: ...**

**TheF0x: Actually, yeah**

Aiden breathed out and took a few sips from his cup, turning it nervously in his hands. How did this even become a thing? The fact that Damien was now in his apartment without a direct invitation from him sounded like the dumbest coincidence in the whole wide world.

**BeansDirkMen: So what, you down to fuck?**

**BeansDirkMen: Just joking, don't freak out. I mean it.**

Pearce snorted quietly and let the cup just touch his lips for a moment, as he kept trying to breathe slowly to calm down his racing heart. All this was ridiculous. It was maybe just some kind of sick joke... Maybe it was Jordi's doing? Jordi could do that, that guy had no inhibitions when it came to pranks, he had the money to pay someone to trick him for so many months. Aiden scratched his chin and put away the cup, leaning back in his chair. The remaining question was: _why_ would he do that?

**BeansDirkMen: I kinda want to finish this job, it'd be easier if I didn't have to type, yknow.**

Aiden frowned at the new message and at the thoughts that kept leaking into his head. No, there was a bigger chance that this was a ridiculous coincidence, than that it was one of Jordi's pranks, and Aiden didn't know which of the options made him more uncomfortable. He sighed loudly and rubbed his temples. There was only one way to find out what the truth was.

 

 

 Damien had put away his phone when no answer came for a couple minutes. He looked down to the black screen of his client's laptop, trying to distract himself from the obvious fact that is the situation being highly stupid. If Aiden was in and out the same person he's been talking to, this job would've ended with a hook up; something in which Damien believed for good three seconds, right before Aiden lost it.

'Aiden', Damien repeated in his head. He's been wondering about what his friend's name was, and now he decided that out of all the ones he guessed it could be, this real one really fit the best.

"Fuck it, just let's get over with this talk," he heard a mutter behind himself, right before the other man walked up to the counter and leaned against it just like earlier, looking quite defeated, angry, but also extremely uncomfortable, as if he didn't want to look at him or even be there.

Damien smiled faintly and looked back at his work again, seeing that he finally managed to break the access code to the system.

"I'm not sure what we could talk about," he sighed, glancing up to the younger man again, letting his blue gaze scan him carefully. "I remember this tank top. You wore it like three nights ago," he observed in a flat tone, noticing that Aiden flinched and tensed, looking away again, as if Damien's gaze was hurting him.

"I sleep in it," he mumbled, right before another rather awkward silence filled the air. Brenks looked down at the phone before him again, in an attempt to maybe give Aiden a moment to think about something to say, but little did he know that Pearce's head was such a mess in that moment, that he wouldn't even know where to begin. His fingers tapped on the counter and he kept staring at Damien's hands, not quite able to make himself look at his face in that moment.

"Didn't it get stained?" Damien snorted, not looking up, but nearly sensing that the other man flinched.

"I... I took it off later, remember...?" Pearce said after a few seconds, even quieter than earlier. He sighed and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, trying to push away the memories of that night. "Okay look, we weren't supposed to talk about _that_. We were supposed to talk about... Something else."

Damien snorted quietly, still mainly focusing on retrieving the data he needed.

"Something else? I don't know what to talk about, A _iden_ ," he let out with a sigh, jumping up slightly when he heard that the younger man slapped the counter with his hand, making Damien's attention fix on his face again. "What, you don't like it when I say your name?" he asked and slowly stood up, taking a few steps towards Aiden, who was just about to say something, but he froze instead, just looking at Damien as he was slowly approaching him.

"You're just... you're pissing me off already, _Damien_ ," Aiden growled, furrowing his eyebrows and looking up to him, huffing angrily when he saw a smirk appear on his face.

"Now doesn't that name sound different when you say it like _this_ ," Damien murmured, taking another step towards his internet friend and putting his hand on the counter slightly behind him, not yet touching Aiden but being very close to that. He grinned widely, suddenly feeling the desire to mess with this guy a little. "I have like three hundred pics of your dick on my phone, don't you think it's time for me to see it in real life?"

Aiden opened his mouth and just didn't move, looking straight into the blue of Damien's eyes and trying to ignore the fact that his heart started beating faster... and that it wasn't going crazy only because of the nervousness.

"Oh fuck off," he finally let out angrily, planting his hand on Damien's chest and pushing him away, making the man chuckle as he took a few steps back. "Are you trying to scare me?"

"I don't think I have to _try_ , Aiden," Brenks observed, watching Pearce clench his fists on the edge of the counter. "...but no, I'm just fucking around, sorry about that," he said and lifted his phone when he saw that the files he's been searching for got uploaded on it already. "Alright, I'm done here. Send me your sis' e-mail address later so I can send her this document of hers," he said, picking up his bag and hanging it on his shoulder.

"Wait, you'll just _leave_?" Aiden blurted out, but seeing Damien's raised eyebrows, he tried to rehabilitate himself. "I mean... You'll want to get paid, right?"

"Tell her it's on me. She needs to bring it to the office anyway so I can fix the screen, so it doesn't really matter," Damien said with a shrug and picked up his jacket from the chair to put it on. The beanie and the scarf soon followed. "...unless you want to tell her that I'm fine without any cash if only her handsome brother agrees to go on a date with me," he added with a smile, taking a few steps towards the corridor and the front door. Aiden followed after him in silence, with his arms crossed on his chest and an uneasy expression on his face. "So? Will her brother go on a date with me?" Damien asked again after he unlocked the front door and turned back to Aiden, who just stared at him with his mouth slightly agape and his fingers tapping on his arm unconsciously.

"Uh... I...-" he started, but immediately stopped when Damien leaned in and kissed his cheek gently, only moving away after a few seconds. And those few seconds sure felt like forever to Aiden, whose heart felt like it stopped again, as he just breathed in the smell of melting snow together with Damien's cologne and warmth. Pearce's knees grew weak in just a couple seconds, and when Damien pulled away from him and smirked, he couldn't stop his mouth from acting on its own. "Yes, I want to do that," he mumbled quickly, receiving a wider smile in return.

 

"Good. I'll see you soon," Damien said softly before getting out of the apartment and leaving Aiden there all warm and feeling as if he was just about to faint.

 

 

 

A few days later, Aiden looked at his reflection with his eyebrows furrowed as he held a button up shirt in front of his naked chest. Would a shirt be too formal? Maybe not, Damien seemed to wear shirts a lot, he thought while crumpling the fabric between his fingers. He, on the other hand wasn't used to it, so it wouldn't be hard to tell that it wasn't natural for him. Maybe just a sweater would do, they haven't even yet decided where they were supposed to go, but they sure weren't going to any fancy place...

 "Going somewhere?" Nicky's voice made Aiden jump up and nearly drop the shirt. He growled and looked behind himself only to see his sister with her hair down and wearing her pajamas despite it already being early afternoon.

 "Maybe I am. It's obvious that _you_ are staying home," he huffed, turning back to the mirror and opening the wardrobe to hang the shirt back on the hanger.

 "Did my tiny brother get himself a date? And you didn't even tell me?" Nicole laughed, ignoring Aiden's comment and walking further into the room to sit on the bed behind Aiden.

The man turned his face back to Nicole and flashed her an annoyed look.

 "Nick, you aren't supposed to be here," he growled at her and crossed his arms over his chest, still looking at her with a pout.

"Oh come on, you can tell _me_ ," the girl laughed and lied down on the bed on her back. "What's her name? Where did you meet her?"

Aiden rolled his eyes and went back to looking through his clothes in search for something fitting. He wasn't very comfortable with Nicole asking all these questions because, so far, he didn't want to enlighten her about his preferences, neither did he want to admit that he got himself into a situation this very ridiculous. He sighed and picked out a gray, long-sleeved tee, looking at it with his brows furrowed.

"How about I won't tell you any of that?" he asked, pulling the shirt over his head, looking at his reflection. He didn't like that either, but he didn't really know how he could improve this outfit. After all, technically there wasn't a wrong way to wear a pair of jeans and a plain sweater... He shook his head. Why did he even worry about that? He's never ever been concerned about his clothing looking good or not, meeting Damien shouldn't exactly be something that craved his focus on that either.

"You're boring," Nicky sighed, looking up to her brother with a snort when he turned around again, looking slightly offended. "You want some advice? Shave your face, you look homeless again."

Aiden hissed in annoyance and tossed a t-shirt from the wardrobe at his sister, who just started laughing more.

"Maybe he likes that, you wouldn't know," he grunted, soon freezing in place when he realized what he said. " _She_ does. I'm sure that she does," he added quickly, trying to save the situation from becoming highly awkward. Nicky raised her eyebrows, but didn't comment. Aiden could just hope that it was because she didn't realize what he said in the first place.

"Shave. You'll at least show that you put some effort into this," she repeated, ignoring what her brother said. "Oh, what's that?" she murmured, reaching out for Aiden's phone that was lying on the bed right next to her. "You got a message from someo-..."

"Give me that!" Aiden growled and jumped up to Nicole, grabbing his phone and pulling it out of her hand.

"Wow Aiden, you got no chill," Nicky sighed, looking at him in surprise and sitting up the bed. "You have like... negative chill," she laughed, as Aiden unlocked his phone and looked at the message to check just how very awful it would be if Nicky read it before him.

**BeansDirkMen: So what, sushi? Coffee? Pizza? I'm just on my way home from that morning shift =n=**

**TheF0x: Oh...**

**TheF0x: I dunno, maybe just coffee. Starbucks? I could pick you up somewhere ;)**

Aiden couldn't believe that he sounded so calm about picking Damien up and actually going on a _date_ with him... especially because he was sure that Brenks would make his head feel like a mess again the very moment he saw him. Oddly enough, Aiden wasn't really discouraged by it, but maybe it was mostly because he tried very hard not to overthink it all.

"Got some nudes?" Nicky snorted.

"Not this time," Aiden said with a snort and smirked at Nicky who just rolled her eyes.

"Alright, I'll leave you and your Very Important Secrets be. Shave, though."

"Fine," Aiden sighed.

 

Meanwhile, Damien just got off the bus just outside his neighborhood. He knew that he didn't have too much time to shower, change his clothes and grab something to eat if they weren't going to a restaurant, but if Aiden was supposed to pick him up, that didn't really matter. Maybe he'd just have to walk up to the main street to not scare him off already in the very beginning with his neighborhood not looking very inviting.

**BeansDirkMen: Alright, Starbucks it is c: I'll send you the address in a while, pick me up at 4?**

**TheF0x: Kk, just let me know when I should leave**

**BeansDirkMen: Can't wait to see you, Aiden ;)**

Damien actually really wanted to take his own motorcycle to pick up his date, but he was more than sure that Aiden wouldn't appreciate the cold. He himself has started riding his bike again after a few months or so of break when he was just too lazy to put on warmer clothing... but he couldn't ask Aiden to just put on some warm trousers and deal with it, at least not in these circumstances.

Damien sighed. His breath was no longer visible in the cold weather now that the temperature wasn't making his fingers fall off when he was texting, and he very much liked that fact. Even more than that, he liked the fact that in an hour or something like that, he'd have a date, and the ultimately favorite thing that he couldn't stop thinking about on that particular Saturday afternoon was that his date was no one else but the man he lately wanted the most. He smiled to himself a little and opened his texts, soon finding the right contact. After all, he couldn't keep news like that just to himself.

**me: Hey, guess who's going out for coffee. With a guy. Like on a date n stuff =u=**

**Ellie <3: Oh, you finally got over the phase of lying about me on the internet and decided to get laid? I'm proud, babe hahah**

**me: Sure you are. Any advice? Last time I was out like this was with you, I think I got a bit rusty haha**

**Ellie <3: Do I look like a gay man to you? Man up, Damien!**

Damien snorted and smiled at the screen for a moment, before he had to put away his phone to unlock the door downstairs. Elizabeth was always like that, all the way through their relationship and all the way into their not-so-long marriage. Always supportive, never good at giving out advice. She was always curious about his new adventures though, so Damien knew already that after this date, he'd have to plan up another "date" with his ex to tell her all about what happened.

**Ellie <3: At least make that chin strip look presentable, jfc**

**me: Always, honey**

 

Aiden's hands were trembling when he turned in to park in the spot that Damien guided him to through text. He sighed and leaned forwards to rest his face on the upper part of the steering wheel in an attempt to calm himself down. For some reason, he was much more nervous now than he even was the first time he met Damien in his own apartment, and he was slowly understanding that maybe being prepared for things didn't always do him much good.

He jumped up slightly when he heard the door on the passenger side open, and he looked up to the man who got inside, shutting the door behind himself and smirking at him in a way that made Aiden think that he was very happy to be there. He wasn't sure if he was even breathing, when Damien said some words he didn't understand, probably greeting him, before he leaned forwards and pecked his cheek shortly. Aiden probably let out something in the tone of 'uhh... mhm...' or something equally intelligent, suddenly forgetting everything he was supposed to say and that he kept rehearsing in his head before Damien came. The next thing he knew, they were leaving the parking lot and he had an excuse not to keep eye contact with the other man, but that didn't quite solve the problem of the awkward silence that suddenly filled the space between them.

"How are you?" Damien asked after another minute and slowly tilted his head back. For a longer moment Aiden wasn't sure whether he actually _asked_ the question or if it was just his brain's weird projection... but while he was wondering about that, Damien said more words that he had to take in. Oh, and air too, he reminded himself, breathing in shakily. He should probably breathe in as well. "I saw you posting at some crazy hour last night. Did you even get any sleep?" Brenks laughed quietly. Hearing him laugh like that really didn't help Aiden focus, reminding him of the many Skype calls... _No_ , he couldn't think about that _now_.

"Yeah, I did," he finally answered with a small, nervous smile stretching his lips. "But... but that's fine, I mean I could sleep in pretty late," he murmured, clenching his fingers on the wheel a little.

"True. In opposite to _some_ people," Damien sighed and turned away to look out through the window. When Aiden glanced at him, he was looking at the wet snow with an absent smile.

"Uh... How was work?" he asked quietly, somehow sensing that Damien was trying to lead him onto questions like that to continue this small-talk.

"Not too bad. I was just at the office today, but I couldn't really focus," Damien said in a slightly amused tone. "I mean... it still feels weird. You being this close... I've been trying to let it sink in for a while now," he kept talking and as words kept leaving his mouth, Aiden was praying to all the gods that he wouldn't actually expect him to reply to that. Or to anything at all, really. He just wanted to listen to Damien's low voice, and to not be responsible for keeping the conversation going despite the fact that he knew it wasn't possible.

"Yeah... It... It freaks me out a bit," he finally managed to let out, staring at the streets in front of him, stubbornly stopping himself from glancing to Damien and from making his gaze meet his blues. "I mean... we weren't supposed to... you know..."

"...meet, yes I know," Damien snorted and smiled widely, looking up to Aiden's clean-shaven face. "I was supposed to forever be a handsome, mysterious master of dirty talk, and you were supposed to be a masked slut. We both turned out to be a bit different, I guess," he chuckled, seeing that Aiden's jaw tensed a little.

"How's the part about you a lie?" he blurted out after a moment, making Damien laugh some more.

"Am I a handsome, mysterious dirty talk master? I'm flattered."

"I didn't say... Well..." Aiden mumbled and breathed out, relaxing a little when he noticed that he was laughing as well. It wasn't so different after all, he noticed. _Damien_ wasn't as different as he thought at first, not at all... and there were no reasons for him to be this very nervous. After all, he knew him. "Yeah, you're hot," he finally sighed and felt a faint blush creep up onto his neck.

Damien looked at him for a moment and just grinned when Aiden glanced at him unsurely.

"Feels special to hear that from /gonewild's main attraction," he murmured and leaned back against the backrest of his seat. "Damn, 'wink' emoticons make flirting so much easier, I totally need those in real life."

Aiden snorted and looked at his friend for a longer moment when they stopped on a red light. He reached up to fix the peak of his hat a little, and he finally moved his hand to his lips to rub them slowly, wondering what he could say to that completely correct statement... before he fully understood what the man meant.

"You want to flirt with _me_?" he asked stupidly, immediately regretting the words that escaped him. Of course Damien would want to flirt with him, that's why they went on a date, stupid, stupid...

"See? Emoticons make it easier to understand too," Damien said, not sounding as if he minded the question. Aiden breathed out slowly.  "We have all afternoon to figure those things out."

Aiden turned away, slightly abashed, but soon he just took another deep breath, relieved because of the fact that Damien didn't seem to want to make fun of him for the things he said. Maybe this wouldn't be an absolute catastrophe. In text Damien was charming, in real life his way of being seemed mostly cocky... or maybe it was just being confident? It sure managed to make Aiden nervous... though maybe Damien acted exactly the same but when the wall of internet connection didn't separate them it just made Aiden see it as a threat...? Either way, Aiden was now in too deep in this to back off and run away with his tail between his legs and he was well aware of that. He'd give it a shot, he just had to calm down and not ruin all his chances in the very beginning.

He looked up to Damien's smiling, handsome face, feeling his hand tremble a little. It was ridiculous that life gave him an opportunity like that, to meet someone whom he really wanted... but to meet him in such an awkward way. He couldn't let being terrified ruin the eventual good outcome of the situation for him.

"Yeah. I suppose we do," he murmured, shifting the gear and turning on the crossing.

 

 

  
When they arrived to the café, the nervousness from earlier wrapped its sticky arms tightly around Aiden's guts... and Damien was fully aware of that. He saw how tense the man was, how scared, but he just couldn't figure out what the reason was. It was just a date, maybe a slightly awkward one, but still just a date. Aiden must've known that he wouldn't push him to do anything, right? Brenks wondered, as he unzipped his jacket and sat down on the coach on one side of the table. Aiden put his coat next to his date, but didn't sit there, instead he just flopped down on one of the less comfortable chairs across from him, and reached out to grab the big cup of chocolate coffee which Damien bought for him.

"So... We're supposed to start over from here," Damien said when Aiden put his baseball cap on the table next to the cup, and he obviously tried his best to avoid Damien's gaze. "Let's do that."

"Yeah..." Aiden murmured after a moment, looking down at the coffee in his cup. Damien observed him for a moment, only listening to the muffled conversations of the few other people in the café and to the quiet music coming from the speakers. "Yeah, I guess we should."

"It'll feel like a fresh start," Damien spoke after another minute or so, reaching forwards to stroke Aiden's free hand with his very fingertips. The other man flinched but didn't say anything or move his hand away which, at least in Damien's eyes seemed like a good sign. He smiled faintly and looked down at their hands with a sigh. "So... I'm Damien Brenks, I'm thirty and my birthday is on November 21st... I think I never told you when my birthday is," he laughed and slowly pulled away his hand. "Hm... I like computers, dogs, motorcycles... lately, my main interest is _you_ , though."

Aiden smiled and laughed nervously, lifting the cup up to his lips. Damien wondered if he was overwhelmed... and maybe it really was so, but Pearce still looked as if he was much more relaxed than in the very beginning of their meeting when Damien saw him just faceplant on the steering wheel in his car. He decided not to mention that, though.

"I don't think you need the 'wink' emoticon to show that you're interested," Aiden finally said quietly. "...but you're not very subtle."

Damien snorted and grinned as he too grabbed the cup of his own black coffee.

"I can be subtle, but I don't think it's needed now. I want to feel out where you and I stand... I think we both want that," he said and tilted his head a little as he scratched his chin slowly. "What do you think we should do about all this?"

" 'All this'?" Aiden repeated after him slowly. "And by that you mean...?

"About me being obviously interested in you, and about you being really awkward but interested in me as well," Damien said with the ever-present smirk curling his lips. He saw Aiden's eyes widen, as the man just looked at him as if words got stuck in his throat, before he quickly looked away and took another few sips from his cup. "Hey, maybe I'm not subtle, but I'm not blind either," he laughed when he saw that Aiden clenched his teeth, breathing out very slowly.

Aiden turned the cup in his hands and growled quietly, squeezing his eyes shut,  just staying silent for a few tense seconds before he finally spoke.

"I've never been with a guy," he blurted out and Damien froze for a moment, raising his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Wait... What?" he snorted and laughed, as it sure wasn't like Aiden was serious. It wasn't even an option that he was inexperienced, Damien wouldn't even consider something like that, not after all their conversations... "As in... you don't date people long-term? That's fine, I don't-..."

"No, I mean that I've never been with a guy. Not short-term, not long-term, not one night..." Aiden rambled, clenching his fingers on his cup tighter. "Don't give me that look, I know it's disappointing."

Damien watched him in silence for a moment, unwittingly remembering a ton of messages and pictures he got from Aiden... and he couldn't recall one single moment where he felt as if Pearce was insecure or hesitating.

"It's not disappointing I just... It's... Hard to believe," he finally let out, turning his gaze away from Aiden's face. "Uh... Wow."

"Are you making fun of me?" Aiden hissed, looking up and squinting his eyes at which Damien started laughing.

"No, no I'm not. I'm just... I'm trying to understand what you just told me. You... you haven't been with a guy."

"I haven't."

"You've never even sucked a dick? Not even once?" Damien said seriously and furrowed his eyebrows, bursting out laughing more when Aiden stared at him with a horrified expression and looked around to be sure that no one heard him. "Alright, alright that face is enough to convince me. Wow."

"Christ, stop that," Aiden hissed, but couldn't help but laugh a bit nervously as well when he saw the wide grin stretching Damien's thin lips.

"Yeah, yeah I will," Damien assured him and found Aiden's green eyes with his own. "Alright, this... this changes the situation a bit. Let's talk about something else for now, hm? So, I realized we never really talk about movies. Have you seen..."

The conversation soon became more lively, now that they were over some of the more uncomfortable topics. Damien didn't push his date to much to talking about himself, and Aiden was quite thankful for that, not asking many personal questions either. After all, they knew each other, none of them could deny that. This meeting seemed more like a reunion, not much like a first date... and Damien didn't mind that. He watched Aiden slowly get more comfortable around him, making his sentences longer as his words became more messy when he kept rambling excitedly about some video game that he has preordered and that was about to come out in just a few days. Damien looked at how his eyes were sparkling and the corners of his lips got curled up in a smile every time he took a small break between his sentences. He watched his mannerism, somehow so very different than what he expected after the video calls. It was a very special experience to him, seeing Aiden's entire face when speaking to him. He looked at him for long enough to notice the small wrinkles under his eyes which Pearce always covered up on the pictures. He could see a small cut on his clean-shaven cheek, and a tiny scar about the same size down on his jaw, and it felt oddly good to see all that so close to him. This was the first time that Damien could actually take his time to look at his internet friend, and the longer he watched him, the more difficult it was for him to understand that this was the same person who sent him full paragraphs of explicit porn and daring nudes. Not that he complained though.

 

 

A second round of coffee and another few light topics later, they left the coffee shop. It was dark outside already and Damien was quite amazed by how quickly those few hours passed, and by just how much wet snow was now covering the sidewalks. He walked towards the car with Aiden on his right side. They were silent, but it wasn't the kind of overwhelming, uncomfortable silence from before, but the rather pleasant one that tends to appear after draining a topic right before starting a new one. It was dark outside when they drove up to the parking lot where Damien got picked up earlier, and Brenks actually smiled a little when Aiden wondered with a slight shade of concern if he lived close.

"I'm a big boy, Fox," he laughed, unbuckling his belt and nonchalantly leaning towards the younger man to kiss his cheek, stroking the other one. Aiden drew in a quick breath when he got surprised like that, but soon he just sighed and even dared to put his slightly stiff hand on Damien's shoulder for a moment, making him smile even wider. "Will you want to see me again?" Brenks asked quietly, moving away a little to see Aiden's face better in the faint light from outside.

Pearce didn't answer for a moment, visibly experiencing some kind of internal struggle as he crumpled the fabric of Damien's jacket in his hand, but Damien just waited and hoped that the response to his question would be positive. He would be surprised if it was different, after all they've had an amazing afternoon and evening...

"I sure do," Aiden said quietly after a few seconds of hesitation, and his hand moved to the back of Damien's neck unsurely as he breathed out slowly. "...And I want it to be soon," he added with a small, chuckle.

"Thank God, I got nervous there for a moment," Damien laughed and slowly moved forwards again to kiss Pearce's cheek another time. "Then... I'll see you in a while. I won't say goodnight, because I'm very sure that we'll talk later tonight."

"It would feel weird if we didn't," Aiden agreed and turned his face a little, now looking at Damien up from very close, having his lips just a sigh away from his. Damien didn't move, he just waited for the man to show any sign of interest of kissing him... but Aiden didn't do anything either, just freezing in place right there. But he was so close, just oh so close...

"...then it's a goodbye for now," Damien said softly to break the thick silence that fell after Aiden's words. He slowly moved away and Aiden's hand slipped back down from Damien's shoulder and to the seat.

"Ye... Yeah," Aiden said and smiled faintly when Brenks opened the door and the lamp in the ceiling got switched on. Damien smiled back at him one last time before shutting the door and walking up to the sidewalk. Soon he watched Aiden's car leave the parking spot and drive out on the street. He looked after him for a moment and picked up his phone when he saw that he stopped on a red light just a small bit away.

**BeansDirkMen: Just don't text me while driving ;)**

**TheF0x: You have your wink emoticons and you're still being a little shit hahah**

**BeansDirkMen: c: Let me know when you're home**

**TheF0x: I'm a big boy too, Damien ;)**

Damien snorted and started walking through the snow towards his block. He had to put away his phone when one stronger breath of the cold wind made a bunch of snowflakes fly up and melt on his screen.

He kept smiling to himself even despite the weather getting gradually more and more horrible, as his head felt surprisingly light and empty. He'd meet his Fox another time, and if everything would go as he wanted it to, many more times than that. Nothing could spoil the evening for him, he thought once he reached the staircase and picked up Sauerkraut who looked at him with a dumb expressing as usual.

"Come on, boy, we're going home," he murmured and buried his nose in the cat's fluffy fur, tickling his nose like dust.

  
"Meow," Sauerkraut agreed.


	9. [He_Calls_Me_After_Midnight]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuff and more stuff. Aiden is awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I really need a plan to update regularly.  
> First of all, 80 kudos?! This is crazy, I didn't expect this thing to get so popular, ever. Thank you for your feedback, I always appreciate comments and Tumblr messages.  
> But yeah, here is the chapter! I hope you enjoy <3

**TheF0x:  Pssst... You awake?**

**TheF0x: Damien**

**TheF0x: Damien psst**

**TheF0x: Damien D:**

**BeansDirkMen: Well now I am. What's up?**

**TheF0x: ...**

Damien rubbed his tired eyes and yawned, pressing his face to the pillow before pulling away from it. He took a deeper breath and sighed, noticing that the digital clock on his bedside table confirmed his expectations for the time to be around 3AM. He squinted his eyes at the screen of his phone and hurried to turn down the brightness a little as he flipped over to his stomach and rubbed his face on the pillow again. He looked up to the device, seeing that Aiden just sent him a picture of himself sprawled out on his bed. His face wasn't visible on the photo, just as usual, but the rest... the rest _was_. Damien smiled to himself sleepily and closed the picture again to respond. 

**BeansDirkMen: ...didn't you want to take a break from this now that we're seeing each other? You were too shy to even kiss me and yet here we go x3**

**TheF0x: Weeell... It's not the same thing, alright? As long as we don't bring it up irl...**

**BeansDirkMen: You sure you don't want me to just come over? ;) I mean if you already woke me up because you're thirsty...**

Damien yawned again and opened the picture a second time, zooming in a little and looking up and down Aiden's naked body. He hasn't received any new pictures since their meeting in Aiden's apartment, so it sure was a pleasant surprise.

**TheF0x: No. I just want us to get it on as usual D:**

**TheF0x: ...please?**

After a moment of hesitation, Damien just shook his head and sat further up on the bed. Another picture from Aiden loaded, and Brenks decided that he could spend some time on this now that he was awake anyway.

**BeansDirkMen: How are you so sure I want to see your dick? Maybe I'd prefer pics of your ass, huh?**

**TheF0x: There we go ;)**

Damien made himself a bit more comfortable and after a second thought, he turned on his front cam and took a pretty dark picture of his naked chest, soon sending it Aiden's way. 

**BeansDirkMen: To be completely honest, I should be mad at you for waking me up hahah**

**TheF0x: ;) Tell me how you'd do me if you were angry**

**BeansDirkMen: I wouldn't do you, I'm too tired haha**

Aiden responded with a photo of the lower part of his face, showing his lips that formed a small pout... but it was soon followed by a second picture that Aiden took with the help of a mirror that was on his wardrobe door, showing his naked back and butt, which Pearce was squeezing with his other hand. Damien looked at it for a longer moment and bit his lip, breathing out louder. He couldn't be angry at this man when he was so obviously desperate for his attention.

**BeansDirkMen: Alright, maybe you'd get SOMETHING**

**TheF0x: Hahha**

**BeansDirkMen: I forgot how great your ass looks, I should've taken it into consideration x3**

**TheF0x: Tell me more ;)**

**BeansDirkMen: More, huh? I want to touch it. So, so much...**

**BeansDirkMen: If you weren't naked already, I'd be rough with undressing you. Would you like that?**

**TheF0x: Yes. Very yes. More.**

Damien looked at the screen of his phone with a smile and, on a whim, he chose the call button, soon seeing that Aiden's avatar opened on full screen when the younger man promptly accepted his call.

"That was quick. What, your boner defeated your fear of phone calls?" Damien chuckled and Aiden just growled at him quietly. 

Brenks could hear some shuffling, soon followed by a quiet whisper.

"I can't talk too loud."

"Of course you can't... Not very convenient, I want to hear you," Damien purred, immediately hearing Aiden suck in a quick breath through his mouth. He smirked and lied back down on the pillow, putting his phone right next to his ear. "Then... I'll talk to you tonight, and you'll listen like a good boy," he murmured. Another breath followed by more shuffling answered him, and the line was all silent for a moment before he decided to speak again. "Hell, you're so needy right now," he chuckled and closed his eyes, hearing a quiet pop which was probably the sound of Aiden opening his mouth to breathe in deeper, slower breaths.

"I am... Don't... Don't mention this the next time I see you," Aiden mumbled, making Damien snort quietly. 

"I'm not promising anything. But now the important things, because I need to go to sleep in a moment," he answered after a second or two of silence. "You're touching yourself now, aren't you? Thinking about me... When was the last time you _haven't_ been thinking about me while doing that? Do you even remember?" he purred, and Aiden just sighed, not using any words to answer. That silence was enough of an answer for Damien. "You're thinking about the most innocent things, aren't you? About the time when we were in the car, or when I was so very close to touching you in your room. You remember when I touched your side and you wish it wasn't through your clothes," he said, knowing that what he was saying was true, when Aiden let out the quietest whimper, barely a louder breath, and didn't even try to deny his words. Damien scratched his chin a little and sighed, feeling pride bubble up in his chest. He was still pretty good at this, even despite the fact that he didn't get to practice his sex talk in real life for quite a while.

"Go on," Aiden whispered impatiently, making another quiet chuckle audible in Damien's dark bedroom. 

"So needy," Brenks repeated, his whispers caressing Aiden's ear in a way that made him sigh shakily once again. "If I had you here right now you wouldn't have to be quiet at all... And I'm sure you'd be even more needy. I'd tease the living hell out of you first though, I'd have my hands all over you. How about sitting on my lap while I'd be kissing your neck? I know that _I_ would love that," he continued quietly, slowly losing himself in the vision as well. 

He could recall Aiden's scent quite explicitly, which maybe was a bit odd considering that he barely got to touch him... but it was that scent he remembered from the car. That Honda was full of it, and so was Aiden's apartment, especially his room. Damien found himself wanting -no- _needing_ to go there again, or to go wherever he could enjoy that scent for a longer while.

"...and? And what then?" Aiden's breathy, quiet voice pulled him out of the half-sleep which he suddenly found himself in. "I really don't need much more," he murmured, and another lazy smile appeared on Damien's tired face. 

"I'd ask you to rub yourself on me all nicely. Would feel good to the both of us, wouldn't it? I'm sure it would, especially to you because I'd squeeze your ass and bite and lick your neck... You'd be all red from the hickeys I'd put on you," he whispered, making Aiden press the phone harder to his ear to hear his voice clearly. "And then... Hm, what could we do? So many options, it's difficult to choose just one."

There was silence on the line for a longer while, maybe even half a minute. Damien could hear shaky breaths and sighs on the other side, all quiet and muffled, because obviously Aiden didn't want to be heard outside of his room. Soon the excited breaths turned into panting, and after a very soft, frustrated groan, it all got muffled even more. Damien suspected that a pillow was involved.

"...fuck me," Brenks suddenly heard, very faintly and very quietly. 

"What did you say?" he asked playfully, as his hand started to slowly play with the sheets covering his naked thigh. 

Aiden went quiet again, but soon he pushed the pillow off his face and Damien could hear his breaths get more frantic again. 

"Then you'd... fuck me," he whispered, gasping quietly after that and again covering his face with the pillow. 

"Yeah? Maybe I would," Damien said playfully and lazily reached out to turn off the lamp on his bedside table. "I'd be all slow with you, but I don't think it would change a thing, you'd come just from sitting on my cock if I started kissing you more. Or... No, I think you'd be done just having my fingers inside you."

"Damien..." Aiden breathed out softly and his voice trembled a little.

"Yes, that's what you'd say, but louder. I'd keep you close to me, I'd be deep inside you while having you on my lap, squeezing your thighs. Fuck, I bet your thighs would feel so good if I held them tightly. Don't get me started on your ass, I think about it so often..." Damien murmured, flipping over to his stomach and pulling up a pillow under his chin. "I think about how fucking you would be the best thing I can think of," he purred a little quieter.

"Damie-... Shit. Hhh..." Damien heard how desperately Aiden tried to stop himself from making sounds, and he just smiled when he started shuffling a little on the bed. 

He was listening to Aiden's frantic breaths for a moment, until he heard the man gasp a little louder and soon Pearce was just breathing heavily. The quiet sounds he let out were a bit muffled, probably by Aiden's hand.

"Fuck... Thanks," Aiden mumbled quietly,  making Damien start laughing again.

"You're welcome," he answered and smiled to himself a little, suddenly really enjoying the image in his head; Aiden sprawled out on the bed, breathing heavily and getting out the last out of his climax. Damien could almost feel the haziness that probably filled his friend's head to the brim, and it made his already sleepy self even more sleepy. He sighed quietly and rubbed his face on the pillow, murmuring sleepily. "I'll be off to sleep now then, babe."

Aiden was quiet for a moment before sighing as well.

"Yeah, yeah I know... Could you-... No, never mind," he whispered, making Damien furrow his eyebrows in confusion. Maybe Aiden was just rambling sleepily, that was usually the case. "So yeah... Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Aiden," Damien answered softly after a moment. Aiden waited another second and disconnected, leaving Brenks in the sleepy, dark silence of his bedroom. 

  
  
  
  


Aiden turned to his stomach in the bed and let out a longer breath. His hands were trembling a little when he put away his phone on the nightstand and pressed his face to the pillow, feeling as if his body was about to melt together with the sheets. 

He wanted to ask Damien to talk him to sleep... but that would obviously be too much. Aiden was already nervous when he asked him to talk dirty to him despite how late in the night it was. Besides... They never called each other like that. Aiden answered the call on a whim, not really thinking, and it was definitely worth it, but he didn't want to overuse Damien's generosity. Not now, not when the situation was on this level of ridiculous.

"Damien," he murmured, not being sure why he wanted to hear himself say it. He liked that name, it rolled nicely off his tongue. It was a good name. "Fuck..." he whispered to himself, pulling his blanket up over his head. Maybe next time he wouldn't be so shy, maybe next time he'd actually let Damien touch him more, just so he could remember how that felt next time he was alone. He sure wished he knew how Damien's lips felt, because he wanted to imagine the softness of a kiss right in this moment...

 

But despite all that, the next time they met, just a few days later, Aiden couldn't make himself feel relaxed when Damien embraced him briefly just to say 'hello'. It was obvious that Brenks noticed that, Aiden found himself thinking when Damien let go of him and took a small step back. 

"Look, I won't push myself onto you," he said quietly, slowly crossing his hands over his chest. 

Aiden turned his gaze away from him and looked at the cars driving by. This time they met right in the city, as Damien had some errands to run before their meeting. Aiden almost snorted when he realized that he was kind of angry about the fact that Damien still looked ridiculously handsome and fresh even after half a day out in the city. Maybe that's what made it even more difficult for him to calm down; this guy was clearly not an ordinary human, he thought but soon pushed away those thoughts, noticing how stupid they were.

"I know. Sorry..." he murmured and sighed a little, before they turned their steps towards some coffee shop ahead.

"Do you want me to make a move on you, or do you want me to just keep my hands to myself?" Damien asked and glanced to him, seeing that Aiden had his gaze plastered to the sidewalk. "I know it's not a very subtle question, but..."

"I don't know," Aiden let out before Damien could even finish his sentence. "I... I don't know, maybe I'm..." He made a small break and sighed deeply. "Maybe it's because we're in public. Or because--"

"Then how about we go to my place?" Damien wondered suddenly and stopped walking. Aiden froze in place and looked up to his face with a small frown. "And I don't expect anything from you, alright, I just thought about it... Maybe it'd be be better if we were alone?"

It wouldn't be better at all, Aiden thought frantically and tensed more, not even remotely better. It would feel like walking into the mouth of a wolf, not good at all. Damien was looking at him with those calm, blue eyes of his, and Aiden had the hardest time trying to make himself say 'no, we're not doing that'. On the other hand though... maybe it _was_ a good idea. No, he thought and shook his head, it would be even more embarrassing. And yet...

"Yeah, actually why not," he found himself mumbling. Damien raised his eyebrows a little, as if he wasn't expecting a positive answer at all.

"Oh... Alright. You didn't come here with your car, did you?" he asked and his mouth stretched in a smile that made Aiden smile a little as well. 

"Nope, I went by bus, you?" 

"Me too. We can take an Uber home, it's on me," Damien said and picked up his phone. Aiden immediately looked down at his feet and pushed his hands into his pockets. It was a bit overwhelming just how much Damien seemed to want to spend time with him comfortably, Aiden actually wondered just why he was still bothering. Of course, he was aware of the fact that Aiden wouldn't be down to play the role of his internet persona in real life, what did he even expect? He glanced up to him, seeing that he has opened the Uber app. "Is that fine?" 

"Yeah. Yeah, sure," Aiden just let out and tried to calm down his head that suddenly felt very light. What the hell was he even doing? Taking an Uber home to a man he's only met once before...? It wasn't a hook up, obviously, but it felt like a stupid thing to do. As Damien sent their location to their potential driver, Aiden picked up his own phone as well and with a small sigh, knowing that he'll probably regret it, he opened Jordi's contact.

**me: Ok so I'm going on a date. You know the deal, when I get there I'll send you the address and in case I don't let you know I'm alive by the evening you'll have to get my cold corpse there**

**Jordi: lmao ok**

**Jordi: sned pics tho**

**Me: It's a dude**

**Jordi: I know send pics tho u gay ass**

Aiden snorted and put away his phone, seeing that Damien was done with the app and looked at him with a small smile. 

"Shit, you're so gorgeous," he sighed to which Aiden just smiled nervously. "I pray for the day you send me nudes with your face in the frame," he added quieter and Aiden hurried to look away in silence, making the older man burst out laughing. "Ah, right. No mentions of nudes."

"...Yes," Aiden mumbled and made himself look up to Damien who has now leaned his shoulder against the concrete wall off the building with an unlit cigarette between his thin lips. "You know **,** maybe... I think it's good we're going to your place. I've been curious about it," he changed the topic with a nervous chuckle. 

"What, no longer scared I'm going to murder you?" Damien asked and smiled wider, picking out the cigarette from his mouth. "I won't, by the way, I like you too much."

Aiden looked at him for a moment with a blank expression, before the corners of his mouth twitched and he laughed quietly, pushing his hands into the pockets of his coat. 

"Well, still a bit scared of getting murdered... but it might be worth it," he snorted and took a few steps closer to Damien to lean against the wall next to him. "I'm going crazy, I wouldn't do this two months ago," he finally let out, looking back down at his feet. "I mean... It's not like I don't know you, but-..."

"...you've only met me twice and you're slightly terrified, and you wonder what the fuck you're even doing," Damien finished for him.

Aiden looked at him with an annoyed expression for a second or two, but soon he started laughing again.

"Well, yeah. Stop reading my mind, is my face really that bad at hiding what I'm thinking?" he asked playfully, and stiffened when Damien's hand reached up to the peak of his baseball cap and tilted it up a bit. 

"Well... you're really good at hiding _behind_ things," Damien chuckled and pulled his hand away again, poking Aiden's chest before moving it away completely. "I just know you too well. Already. 

"No, you don't," Aiden said with a smirk.

Yes, he did, his brain corrected him. 


	10. [In_the_Lion's_Den]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damien didn't murder Aiden once they arrived to his apartment, for which Aiden is very thankful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this took forever. It always does. Maybe I'll get better at keeping a schedule one day.

The Uber ride felt tense. Damien tried talking, but Aiden didn't really respond despite smiling at him nervously. He didn't seem to mind when Damien placed his hand on his knee, but he still didn't look up to him for a longer while, finally leaning his head against the window.

"I've never been to this part of town I think," he murmured after a while and Damien smiled a little, rubbing his knee gently. "I mean when I wasn't driving. I mean besides when I picked you up," Aiden added quickly and twisted his neck even more to stare out through the window. Damien wanted to laugh seeing just how nervous and awkward Aiden was, as if his tongue acted without his brain's intervention, just to break this heavy tension that felt almost suffocating now that Brenks stopped trying to lead a conversation.

"To be honest... that's only good for you. It's not the best neighborhood," Damien chuckled quietly and looked at the other man, slowly moving away his hand away and picking up his phone. He tapped on it slowly and grinned when Aiden felt his own phone vibrate and looked up to Damien questioningly. "Check it," Damien said quietly.

Aiden furrowed his eyebrows and slowly picked up his own phone and opening the message.

**BeansDirkMen: Remember our roleplay? The one about the cab?**

Aiden quickly put the phone on his thigh upside down, squeezing it in his hand. Damien smirked and leaned back in his seat, seeing it in Aiden's expression that yes, he definitely remembered.

B **eansDirkMen: ;)**

**BeansDirkMen: I probably won't do anything like that to you for another while...**

**TheF0x: Idk maybe I'd like that. Maybe.**

Damien raised his eyebrows and turned his face towards Aiden, who caught eye contact with him for a moment before looking down on his phone screen again. Damien realized in amusement that he was squeezing his left hand into a fist tightly, while the right one which he was typing with was missing the correct buttons.

**TheF0x: Scratch that. I just remembered the details of that rp haa**

**TheF0x: Stop, I'm getting warm**

"I didn't even say anything," Damien whined playfully and looked up to glance out the window when their chauffeur slowed down and finally stopped by his apartment building. "There we go. Thank you," he said to the lady in the front seat, who just told them a quick 'goodbye' before they got out of the car. The next moment they were already walking towards the gray, dilapidated building where Damien lived on one of the upper floors. "It's... I know it doesn't look good," Damien snorted, seeing Aiden's changed expression when he started looking around.

"No, don't worry. I didn't always live in a nice place, trust me," Aiden laughed to Damien's surprise, and he smiled faintly. "How many of your neighbors are registered sex offenders?" he asked jokingly, making Damien laugh as well.

He pushed his hands into his pockets and shrugged.

"Not sure, but I had a druggie living above me. She played the bass in the middle of the night, pissed me off more than the times the cops searched my apartment because of her," he said with a faint smile. "Then there was this couple next door, the girl stole canned food at Walmart and stacked it outside the front door. And I could always hear them when they had sex, because their bed was really shitty, and the walls are thin."  
Aiden snorted and leaned against the wall when they finally walked up to the building and Damien started searching for his keys.  
"How long have you been living here? Sounds like you could have some more stories to tell," Aiden said and walked into the stairwell when Damien unlocked the door.  
Brenks could smell the familiar, not very nice faint smell of piss and mold, one that fortunately faded by the moment they reached the first floor. The walls in the staircase were once green, but now they were fading into some shade of gray (one that Damien actually liked better) and in some places were pieces of graffiti in bad taste. The landlord tried to get everything to look better for a while, but at this point Damien came to the conclusion that he has given up. Funnily enough, Damien only started noticing those things again now that for the first time since a long time he wasn't walking up those stairs alone.  
"Since I moved out of my ex girl's apartment. Honestly, I thought I'd only stay here for a few months until I can pay off some other place... but you know, I might be crazy, but I actually like it here. My newest neighbors are great," he said and sighed when he saw Sauerkraut sitting on one of the steps as usual. "Speaking of which..." he said and picked up the cat, showing him to Aiden. "You know this guy. He's my curse."

"...He's drooling on your jacket," Pearce noticed when they started walking up the stairs. Damien happily realized that he sounded amused.

"Yeah, he does that. You know what, take the keys and get inside, and I'll carry this dumb shit up to Mrs Fruehauf," he sighed and rubbed the cat's head, soon hearing him purr, lovely and gently like a broken grass cutter. Adorable. "Here," he said and passed Aiden the bundle of keys once they walked up to the door. "Feel like home, I'll be back in a moment," he said and seeing that Aiden was opening his mouth to say something, he leaned in to peck his cheek. Aiden closed his mouth again. Damien smiled to him gently and hugged Sauerkraut tighter, leaving the man at his door.

 

  
Aiden could barely hear anything else than his own loud heartbeat when Damien left him in front of that door with a kiss, with a key, and with some cat fur on his jacket. He sighed and started trying different keys to finally stick one of them into the keyhole, maybe a bit more frantically than he expected himself to. After another moment of struggle, he finally unlocked both locks on the door and opened it, walking into a small hallway. He closed the door and looked around, overwhelmed by a strange feeling of deja vu, as he's seen this hall a few times, same about the rooms that it led to, especially Damien's bedroom where the light wooden door was open wide and showing the inside. Aiden swallowed thickly and remembering Damien's words, he took his jacket and hat off, soon pulling the black scarf over his head as well. For a longer moment he stood there and wondered if Damien was this kind of American who keeps his shoes on indoors, but in the end he decided to kick them off anyway. _He_ sure wasn’t American enough to deny himself the comfort of walking barefoot indoors.

Slowly, he stuck in his head through the living room door before he walked inside, still hearing nervous thoughts in his head that kept telling him that he should get the hell out of there before Damien came back… But at the same time, he was too curious. His eyes traveled all over the small room, recognizing the furniture that he so many times saw on pictures. There was a small, light brown couch standing against one of the walls and facing the opposite wall where a TV was hanging. Aiden could see the tiny kitchen behind a wall, and he felt himself start breathing faster when he remembered some of the texts they sent to each other about how Damien many times imagined him on his knees on the tiles right there, and about himself having his way with Aiden on one of the countertops...

"Calm down," Aiden whispered to himself unconsciously when he realized that he was clenching his hand on the backrest of the couch nervously. He let go of it and turned around, walking towards Damien's bedroom. He didn't know if he would have the chance to look at it anymore that day, so he wanted to at least steal a glance, just to confirm to himself that yes, this was the bedroom of the man he was so desperately, ridiculously attracted to.

He sighed when he touched the door frame and looked inside the pretty dark room. The windows were covered with blinds, and the bed was unmade, making Aiden unwittingly get some thoughts that weren't exactly innocent when he looked at the messed up dark blue and white bedsheets; he's seen them like that far too many times. Slowly he walked up to Damien's desk and moved his fingers slowly to the backrest of his gray leather chair. It felt unreal somehow, despite the fact that it was obviously there, right in front of him. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked up to the wall above the desk, seeing some framed posters and photos. A few were arts from video games and movies, and between them was one of a slightly younger version of Damien with his arms around three huge dogs. Aiden smiled a little and glanced to another picture of Damien and some woman with long red hair and a backpack. Aiden soon realized that it was most probably taken on a hike.

"I'm back," he heard from the corridor before he could look at the picture again, and he jumped up a little. He hurried to walk out of the room and lean against the door frame.

"Hey," he said and smiled faintly, watching Damien kick off his shoes and put his jacket and beanie on the rack.

"Hey. Done exploring?" Damien asked playfully and walked up to him, briefly grazing his side and hip with his hand before he turned to walk into the living room. Aiden soon followed him, trying to ignore the question. "Want something to drink? Coffee? Or maybe something stronger?"

"Coffee is fine," Aiden said quickly and sat down on the couch as Damien turned to the kitchen. Pearce could hear a coffee machine start to work the next moment, and Damien opening the fridge. Before Aiden noticed, he was again next to him on the couch with a cup of coffee in one hand and a can of some orange soda in the other. He could feel his own hands sweat when he reached out for that cup.

"What do you want to do, Aiden?" Damien asked quietly and leaned back in his seat, as his thumb opened the can with a sizzle.

He smiled and Aiden slowly looked away and down on the cup in his hand. The apartment was so quiet, he noticed. He remembered that Damien told him sometime that his closest neighbors worked evening and night shifts, which made it very comfortable for him, but Aiden didn't realize just how very quiet that was. Of course he could hear the sounds of Chicago outside, but it was all muffled. Right then and there he thought he could even hear Damien's slow breaths and his own quickened heartbeat.

"I..." he started, turning the cup in his hand and taking a sip. Somehow Damien remembered just how much sugar he liked... "I don't know. Talking is nice," he said and looked up to the other man, returning a smile.

The silence was back the very next second, when Damien looked up and down his face and his expression relaxed a bit more. He moved closer and Aiden twitched and moved away without thinking, making Damien snort.

"Why are you so jumpy? I'm not doing anything," he said and lifted both his hands, before the one that held the can moved to his lips. Aiden felt that his cheeks got warmer. He couldn't just tell him that in that split second he already managed to imagine Damien kissing him in at least four different ways, and that he was nervous about every single one.

"No, nothing," he just said and sighed softly in an attempt to relax a little. He could see how Damien's light eyes scanned his face slowly, before he closed them and leaned back against the backrest. "Your apartment... it's nice. I like it," Aiden mumbled after a moment. Damien smiled wider and drank some of his soda, looking up to him again.

"Yeah? Yours is much nicer."

"Well, it's not mine. It's mom's. That makes it lose its potential," Aiden laughed quietly again. "Nicky keeps reminding me that I should move out. She wants to keep her rabbit and other shit in my room.”

"Gotta love siblings, huh?" Damien said and grinned. "Not that I know, I never had siblings."

"It's like having a dog but worse," Aiden explained jokingly and leaned back against the couch more as well, letting his legs spread a bit more comfortably. "Anyway..."

It was another time when Aiden felt very surprised by how natural their conversations felt once it unfolded in this lazy atmosphere of an afternoon in. He thought they wouldn't be, after all they weren't used to talking like this... but after an hour or so of those slow conversations, he noticed that his hand somehow found his way to Damien's thigh, and Damien's moved to his shoulders after another longer while. It was getting dark outside but neither of them felt like getting up to turn on a light, so they just stayed like that, talking quietly, just like they've done in that Starbucks a while back but... closer. Much closer. Aiden was actually happy that it was so dark in the room, because he was fully aware that his leg was trembling and his neck and ears were very, very warm. And yet, he was completely comfortable. Unexpectedly comfortable. Damien pulled him closer with his arm and Aiden's hand felt even more sweaty when he finally let himself squeeze the man's thigh and stroke it slowly.

"You’re taking a cab home? Or maybe you want to stay the night?" Damien asked softly and Aiden breathed out a louder puff of air when he gently dragged his face over his hair and ear. He almost stopped breathing the next moment when Damien's hand met up his own on his thigh. He turned away his face and sighed, clenching his fingers on Damien's jeans.

"I... I should go home," he said quietly, not sounding very convinced. He could feel Damien's fingers stroking his arm and he just wanted to melt into him with every warm breath that left his mouth and dissolved in his brown hair. "Damien..."

"What's up?" Damien murmured and moved his hand from Aiden's arm and to his hair instead. "Is this fine?"

"Yes it's... Ah hell," Aiden mumbled and turned his face away even more, feeling embarrassment creep up his spine. Damien chuckled quietly and squeezed his hand, at which Aiden just pressed himself to him harder, still not looking at him. "I need to go home," he repeated quietly, shivering a little when Damien's fingers started parting his hair.

"Alright..." Damien sighed and pulled him closer to himself. "Want a ride?"

Aiden stayed like this for a while, thinking about Damien's words. Truth be told, he didn't want to move, not now and not ever. He was perfectly comfortable and warm in the other man's arms, leaning his head against his shoulder... but he couldn't stay the night. Not only because of the anxiety that overcame him at the sole thought, but also because he knew his family wouldn't let him live for weeks after that, even though they were sure he's meeting a girl. Which was another reason why he didn't want a ride back home, as nervousness wouldn't let him let Damien park closer than two blocks away. Damien would sure find that strange.

"No, I'll take the L. But... but maybe not just yet," he finally added and slowly turned his face back to the other man. He looked up to him and for a moment felt a huge desire to kiss him, to just let him do whatever he wanted with him. That's what his eyes just did to a man, Aiden thought and looked back down to his shoulder where he soon pressed his face to. Or maybe not to just any man, but it sure did that to **him**  ever since he saw those blues in real life.

Damien kept stroking his head, soon moving down to his spine as well and feeling it out gently. There was no rush in his movements, Aiden could feel it.

"Alright," Damien repeated and Aiden felt that he sucked in a short breath when he stroked his thigh again. "Then maybe I'll at least walk you to the station," he said to which Aiden just nodded before pulling away a little. Damien stroked his head and finally moved his arm away, much to Aiden's displeasure... but maybe also relief. He was about to answer Damien, when he suddenly flinched because his phone started vibrating in his pocket. He let go of Damien's thigh and reached for the device. He froze the moment he saw the screen, and soon he sighed heavily.

"It's mom... I just... I should take this," he mumbled, seeing Damien’s smirk.

"Yeah, don't worry. It's your mom, I can't really compete," he laughed and leaned back with a chuckle.

Aiden sent him an annoyed glance before answering the phone, seeing that the other man kept looking at him with his eyes half-lidded. He swallowed thickly and took a deep breath before answering.

“Yeah?”

_“Hey, are you home soon? I'm baking and I realized I don't have everything... Could you pick up some things for me at the store?”_

“Uh… Yeah, sure. Could you write me a list?” Aiden said and rubbed his face, feeling that his cheeks were hot.

_“Yeah, I’ll do that. Everything alright? Your voice sounds weird.”_

Aiden looked down at his knees and breathed out slowly. His voice sounded weird? No, it didn’t, he thought stubbornly as the blush from his cheeks moved down to his neck as well when Damien’s hand materialized on his thigh again.

“No, it doesn’t,” he responded, but very much heard his words crack a little. “I’m alright, I’m just… a bit tired. I’ll be heading home soon.”

_“...Okay. Take care, baby.”_

“Yeah, see you soon,” Aiden murmured and put away the phone on the table. He looked up at Damien and squinted his eyes. “Dick.”

Brenks snorted and squeezed Aiden’s leg before standing up from the couch. There was a playful smile curling his lips and Aiden couldn’t help but smile a bit as well when he saw that seemingly innocent expression.

“I guess that changes our plans a little. I should get going to get those groceries,” Aiden sighed, standing up as well and grabbing his phone. The small diode showed that he got a new message, and the list of groceries he got from his mom was longer than he hoped it would be. “I… I don’t really think it’s necessary you walk me there,” he said and furrowed his eyebrows when he realized that it could be taken the wrong way. “I mean that I don’t want to- Uh… I mean that I’ll probably hurry now and that’s unnecessary. I prefer just seeing you for a longer time next time,” he added, in the same moment realizing that it was probably the most he has said to Damien at once since their last meeting.

Damien’s smile faltered a little, but he started walking towards the door as well when Aiden did that. He looked at him and leaned against the wall as the younger man started putting on his shoes and jacket.

“Oh… Well alright, I’m pretty booked up next week but… I hope I’ll see you soon,” he said and Aiden caught eye contact with him for a second; the intensity of that short gaze making it clear that he was anxious and excited to do just that. “And uh…” Damien started again, glancing down on Pearce’s chest and then up to his face again. “I hope that you’ll have a moment to… text tonight.”

Aiden straightened up and put on his hat, as if trying to hide his face in response. He very much knew that Damien didn’t mean _just_ texting.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll have a while," he mumbled, and as he did he felt heat bubble up in his chest. Already in that very second he could feel arousal step in the game. A lot of it too.

"Nice. I feel like I need some attention tonight," Damien laughed quietly.

Aiden wanted to say something witty, he was actually better than ever at doing that lately, but the moment he opened his mouth, his eyes widened and he immediately turned around to the door.

“I’ll… I’ll see you then," he mumbled.

“Yeah. Yeah you will,” Damien said and smiled a bit wider. Aiden couldn't see the surprise on his face, but he could easily imagine it. Hopefully Damien didn’t mind it too much that Aiden left his apartment much more hastily than he expected him to, he thought when he started nearly running down the stairs. He glanced down and wrapped himself in the jacket tighter, cursing a bit under his breath. He also hoped that Damien didn't notice that his pants have suddenly gotten much too tight.


	11. [Outside_Conversations]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordi is a dick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, I wasn't really in the mood for notes last time I was posting, but now here I am, in a much better mood, haha.  
> First of all, wow, 111 kudos? On this thing? I didn't at all expect anything like this on any of my works EVER and maybe especially on this one. Now that I haven't been updating for so many months I didn't even expect that anyone was still reading it, it was a pleasant surprise too see some familiar faces in the comments <3 
> 
> So... to everyone still reading and to whoever is new to this fic, thank you for your feedback, it means the world to me! I have some plans for a few things ahead, maybe I'll finally write something more serious for the canon!Watch_Dogs, but for now this is what I have the energy for, and it makes me happy to finally be able to write a bit more. If any of you was reading [Needles], I just wanted to say that I was planning to rewrite it to make it more... well, readable before updating it. I'm still not sure when and if that will happen, but keep an eye out if it interests you.
> 
> Happy reading!

**TheF0x: fuck im almost there**

**BeansDirkMen: Of course you are ;) have another one**

Damien was smirking to himself as he took another picture from behind his shoulder to send Aiden his naked back and butt reflecting in the bathroom mirror. He sent it and went back to trimming his goatee carefully.

It's been nearly a week since Aiden visited Damien's apartment, and Damien still had trouble believing that it all went both smoothly and just generally _great._ He couldn't stop thinking about how good it felt when Aiden just put his hand on his thigh. It was a small gesture, but it was a big deal coming from Aiden, and Damien got positively surprised that it happened at all. Surprised enough to momentarily forget that he was supposed to be slower than usual and that he probably shouldn't have asked if he wanted to stay the night... but it still turned out alright, he thought as he cut another time with the small scissors and ruffled up his facial hair a bit to get rid of the loose hairs.

**TheF0x: Alright okay I'm done. Wow I didn't think I'd get to see your ass haha**

Damien snorted and put on his bathrobe as he walked out of the bathroom.

**BeansDirkMen: You just never asked for it haha, it's nothing special really**

**TheF0x: I dunno, special enough for me to get off on it lol. But yeah, I need to get going. Mom takes the car today so I need to catch the L**

**BeansDirkMen: Okay, take care today then, my boy ;)**

**TheF0x: ;))**

Damien was about to put away the phone to get dressed, when it suddenly started vibrating in his hand. He raised his eyebrows and glanced down at the screen as a small smile stretched his lips and he answered.

"Hey, hon, when should I pick you up?" he heard Ellie's soft voice on the other side of the line.

"Whenever, really. I just need to get dressed and we can get going," he said and walked up to the window to look out. It was still quite dark outside, but Damien knew that it was because of the weather and not the time.

"Well, it's a bit early for lunch, but not too early for a coffee and breakfast... so I'll be there in twenty, good?"

"Good. See you soon," Damien said and ended the call. He reached out for a grey t-shirt and tossed his phone onto the bed with a yawn. It was early for a lunch and early for anything, really, but he knew that Elizabeth was working evenings this week and it wouldn't be possible for them to meet when he wouldn't have a late shift next time as well. This couldn't wait until next week, he decided, pulling up his underwear and grabbing a fresh pair of jeans. Next week he'd have the chance to see Aiden again, and he needed advice before that, not after the fact.

 

 

 

"...And I bet that then you went all 'aah, Damien, just fuck me already' and he was like 'hey but are you sure? It's only our second date!' and you- Ouch that hurt, Pearce."

"It was supposed to. Jesus, shut the fuck up," Aiden growled at him when he moved his elbow away from Jordi's ribs and leaned back against the corridor wall. He could see that some heads turned their way, but the group of people walking to class soon passed them without giving them any weird looks. "That's not what happened."

"Aah so you got laid? Knew it," Jordi said with a cheeky grin, earning another nudge. "Can you stop doing that?"

"And can you stop jumping to conclusions? First you threaten me so that I tell you and then you don't even listen to me," Aiden hissed and rolled his eyes before looking down at the stone floor below their feet. "He asked if I wanted to stay the night. And I said I should go home," he sighed, knowing what answer he should expect from his 'friend'.

"Really? Wow, you pussy," Jordi snorted, and in that moment Aiden knew that he was completely right about what he would hear. But then again... Jordi was right too. Aiden has been regretting his decision since the moment he got on the L-train that very evening. "Bet he was disappointed."

"Hey, I wasn't... in the mood," Pearce snapped and looked away from Jordi. "And it's not even your business. You don't know him. And later he said he's fine with that," he growled at him and sighed again, feeling that the skin in the back of his neck grew a bit warm. Jordi was such a shitbag, he thought, looking back to him for a moment. Now he was waiting for some drama, and he asked for detailed relations from Aiden's life to keep himself entertained. Considering how many things Jordi was getting from him through blackmail, Aiden was already wondering if he shouldn't just break off this weird deal, and instead worry about his leaked nudes.

"Right," Jordi snarled and pushed himself away from the wall to stand up more straight. "Just have some fun for once in your life, Pearce," he snorted, and before Aiden could answer him, he blended into a group of students heading the other way.

'Have some fun, huh?' he thought bitterly when he saw Jordi throw him a grin from behind his shoulder. When Aiden looked a bit lower, he noticed that his hand was in one of the girls' back pocket, squeezing her buttock slowly, and when he looked up again, the girl has pressed her lips to Jordi's cheek as they kept walking. Aiden raised his eyebrows. Jordi's idea of fun was a bit different from his own, and he came to that conclusion already a while ago.

Not really knowing what to do with his thoughts or hands, Aiden absentmindedly picked up his phone from his pocket. His thumb immediately moved to the Skype icon, and he huffed through his nose when he again read the message he got from Damien in the morning.

**BeansDirkMen: Okay, take care today then, my boy ;)**

Aiden smiled unwittingly and looked out through the window. They haven’t really decided when would be the next time they’d meet, but Pearce kept thinking about it mostly all the time. He kept thinking about Damien’s glances and the softness of his hands, and now that he got to touch more of him, it was much easier to imagine how the man would feel on top of him when Aiden was vividly fantasizing about it at night. Then he could imagine hearing some words Damien told him on the phone during their more needy moments, and they just replayed in his head over and over.

_“I want to kiss your lips over and over.”_

_“I’ll fuck you so hard you won’t even be able to catch your breath. No air left in your lungs.”_

_“Hopefully you won’t have to explain to anyone what’s up with those hickeys on your thighs.”_

_“Good boy.”_

Aiden let out a puff of air and squeezed his phone in his hand. It really wasn’t the right time to remember those fantasies… but in that moment there was nothing he wanted more. He looked down on his phone again and hesitantly typed  few words.

**TheF0x: It’s ridiculous how crazy I am about you**

 

 

  
  
“It’s ridiculous how crazy I am about him,” Damien sighed and lifted his donut to his lips. Some quiet instrumental music was playing in the café which was still almost empty. Elizabeth was sitting on the opposite side of the table and looked at him with a soft smile curling her full lips. Her red hair was braided into two braids framing her face.

“You didn’t sleep with him after two dates and you still want to see him, so I’d say you’re getting serious with him,” she laughed quietly and poked his hand with her finger. “So what’s so special about this Aiden, huh?”

“His ass is amazing,” Damien let out unconsciously, and after a moment of silence they burst out laughing. “No but seriously. I told you how we started talking. First of all he was absolutely gorgeous and then… and then he turned out to be a cool guy as well.”

Ellie smiled wider and took a sip of her tea. She leaned back and grabbed her sandwich as well.

“You have pictures?”

Damien snorted and looked away. Sure, he did have pictures, but it definitely wasn’t the kind he wanted to show his ex.

“I mean… yeah? But… not of his face,” he murmured and the woman started laughing again. “He probably wouldn’t appreciate if I shared our private stuff,” he snorted.

“Send me that Reddit profile of his later then, I’m curious,” Ellie said playfully. Damien’s expression immediately changed and it made Elizabeth grin. “What, you’re getting jealous?”

“No, nothing like that. It’s his public profile after all,” Damien said quickly and bit down onto his donut trying to push away the realization that yes, yes he was getting jealous. It wasn’t even the fact that it was his ex that wanted to see those pictures, but generally that he didn’t want _anyone_ to see them. Of course, he would never tell anything like that to Aiden, as he knew how much he loved the attention he was getting from that account of his, but the feelings were there nevertheless.

“Right,” Ellie said but Damien knew that she could see right through him. He would be surprised if she couldn’t, after all they’ve been together for years. “But didn’t you say he’s just really weird in real life?”

Damien shrugged and finished chewing his donut.

“Not really, he just kind of… he has two personalities. There’s the online hot stuff, and the offline virgin,” he said with a snort. “And I really like both parts. I needed a moment to figure it out but both Aidens are really attractive to me,” he said softly and looked up again when he heard Ellie giggle. “What, you think I’m going nuts?” he asked playfully, but with an obvious hint of seriousness. He was sure that he himself would tell him that he’s going nuts if he was in this situation, so he was ready for that.

“No, not at all, hon,” Ellie said and reached out to squeeze his hand. “You’re just adorable. You really like him.”

Damien raised his eyebrows and soon he looked down at the table again. He felt Elizabeth’s fingers squeeze his hand and he just sighed, feeling himself relax a bit.

“I just don’t really know what to do. He says one thing, he wants another, and the other way around too. He ran off from my apartment that last time and I’m still pretty sure it was because he got a boner and didn’t want me to notice,” he sighed and Elizabeth started giggling again. “Hey, it’s not funny,” he said but felt a smile curl his lips against his will.

“It kinda is."

“Alright, fine, a bit,” Damien admitted, letting himself smile even wider. “But yeah… do you think I should keep on doing this?"

“Doing what, seeing him? Come on, Damien, you like him and he obviously likes you back. What kind of question is that?” Ellie said and drank some more of her tea.

“But the situation itself is kinda fucked up, isn’t it?” he asked and a lopsided smile curled his lips.

“Yeah, it’s more fucked up than I thought it would be,” Ellie admitted in a very serious tone. They looked up and caught eye contact; Damien’s blues finding her greens. The color was very similar to Aiden’s, Brenks noticed in amusement. It seemed like he had a thing for green eyes. “But hey, it could be much more fucked, 'least he's not a catfish,” she added and they both burst out laughing again.

 

  

  
  
That night, Aiden jerked awake and sat up on the bed grabbing the sheets. He cursed and his hand shot up to his head when he managed to hit his head on the shelf above his bed. It wouldn't be the first time that happened, and it definitely wouldn't be the first time caused by a dream. At least the dreams he had lately were pleasant, which he couldn't say about the ones in the past... 

“Ah shit…” he mumbled and shuffled on the mattress before slowly lying down again. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, feeling that he would probably have a bruise right there in the morning. He reached out blindly to check his phone and grunted when the bright light from the screen blinded him.

**[3:47]**

“For fuck’s sake,” he sighed and turned over to lie down on his stomach. The dream that awoke him so harshly was still fresh in his head and made a warmth fill his chest. He slowly touched his own side and breathed out shakily, remembering the gentleness of the hand and arm that he imagined embraced him in that sweet state of unconsciousness.

**TheF0x: I really need to see you tomorrow**

He put away the phone and lied there in silence for a bit. He moved away his hand and squeezed the blanket with his fingers, smiling faintly to himself. He knew that he would probably regret writing that wish in the morning, but right then it felt good, it felt just right.

The light from his phone was hurting his eyes, but he needed to check it again just in case of receiving an answer. Of course Damien wouldn’t really have a reason to still be up at this hour on a weekday, but then again Aiden wouldn’t be surprise if he was; after all, late night texting was how they started talking in the very first place.

He jumped up a little when the phone vibrated in his hand just like he hoped it would do. He opened the communicator and couldn’t help but smile a bit more at the screen, almost as if someone else but the darkness and the calmness of the city night could see it.

**BeansDirkMen: I hoped you’d say that ;)**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Psst, comment?


	12. [What?]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aiden really needs to learn how to talk with his sister about things. Also fix his confidence issues. Fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //whispers Why am I so slow?  
> I'm sorry guys, lately I'm easily discouraged when it comes to writing, but know that I'm constantly trying! Thank you for still sticking around even after Watch_Dogs 2 premiere.

In the morning, Nicole kept looking up at her brother from above her cereal, and Aiden looked back down at his own sandwich every time their eyes met. Finally she pointed her spoon at him accusingly and snorted,

“You did something. There’s something you did and you’re not telling me, I know,” she muttered sleepily and Aiden hissed at her.

“You’re saying that as if I’m always telling you everything,” he observed and took a bite of his sandwich. “I won’t be getting you from school today by the way, go by bus.”

Nicky grimaced at him and shrugged.

“Avoiding the topic now, aren’t we? Fine, I’ll figure it out eventually,” she said and leaned back in the chair a bit. “And it’s fine, I’ll be staying over at Simon’s anyway.”

Aiden smiled faintly as he picked up his phone to check the time and finished chewing.

“A guy? Boyfriend? And you say that I’m the one who’s not telling you anything.”

“I wish,” Nicky wheezed. “Just a friend. He’s gay anyway, so yeah.”

Aiden stiffened a little, and chuckled nervously. There was no real reason for him to get nervous there, but he still felt as if someone squeezed his throat; that “someone” being paranoia. Was that "Simon" really gay, or did Nicky know something and was testing him…?

“Good. I won’t need to worry about you,” he snorted finally. He chased away the nonsense thoughts from his head and stood up from his seat to pick up his coffee from the kitchen counter. Why would she even do that? He knew his sister well enough to know that if she had started thinking about something like that, she’d confront him directly.

“Wow thanks,” Nicky sighed and stood up as well, poking Aiden between his ribs as she put away the bowl next to the sink. “We need to get going.”

“Yeah,” Aiden murmured while sipping on his coffee. He moved his free hand to playfully push away Nicky who laughed and pushed him back. Aiden snorted and left the cup on the counter, grabbing Nicky’s wrists and pulling her hands away when she started to tickle him. “You dumbass.”

“You are. A lying one too,” Nicky laughed and let out a squeal when Aiden growled and suddenly picked her up, tossing her over his shoulder. She wriggled in his grip and started punching Aiden’s back, bursting out laughing when he carried her out of the kitchen and finally let go of her in the hall. “You sure you don’t have anything to tell me?” she asked playfully and Aiden snorted.

“Not really. Not now at least,” he said and bent down to reach his shoes. “I’ll let you know if anything interesting comes up,” he added with a smirk.

“Pfft, right,” Nicky huffed and pushed him with her knee to make him lose his balance. “You won’t.”

Aiden staggered a bit and just grinned, because she was just so very right.

 

 

 

 

Damien was lying on the bed with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, glancing at the screen of his phone every now and then to check if he got any new messages from Aiden. He kept doing that a lot when he wasn’t doing anything else, but now he was doing it with a much bigger frequency, waiting for one specific message.

**TheF0x: Alright, I’m outside. And I got takeout ;)**

Damien smiled to himself and sat up slowly, combing back his hair with his fingers as he walked over to the hall and clicked in the button to unlock the door downstairs for Aiden. It took a moment for him to unlock the front door to the apartment, as the additional chain between the door itself and the wall has lately been everything but cooperative. He had to fix it eventually, he thought when the chain clanked and finally made it possible for him to open the door.

“I started getting worried,” he said playfully and pulled out the cigarette of his mouth to put it in his shirt’s pocket when he saw that Aiden walked up the last few steps with two plastic bags in his hands. It seemed like it was raining outside again, as his leather jacket was glistening a bit. “Didn’t want to text you though, you like texting and driving way too much,” he added and took the bags from Aiden while letting him step inside.

Aiden snorted and closed the door behind himself. Damien followed him inside and leaned against the living room door frame with a faint smile, watching as he took off his damp coat and hat.

“I told you, I’m only texting when I’m not moving. Red lights and all that,” Aiden snorted.

“Yeah, right,” Damien said and raised his eyebrow.

“Don’t make me look like the bad guy,” Aiden laughed and pushed his shoulder lightly once he took off his shoes and headed for the kitchen. Damien’s smile grew wider when he followed his steps.

Aiden seemed… calm, he noticed as he put the bags on one of the counters and picked out the boxes of food. The amazing smell of rice and chicken and steamed vegetables hit his nostrils immediately, and he just sighed quietly. If this wasn’t the perfect setting for spending the afternoon the best way, then at least Damien’s imagination couldn’t picture anything better right then and there.

 

 

 

In reality though, Aiden was everything but calm. He has spent all day thinking about the visit and the eventual outcomes of it (both the more and less realistic ones), and some of the versions of his fantasies almost made him sweat when he was still in class.

“How was your day?” he asked to break the short moment of silence that filled the room.

“Fine, I got home early… but you know that already,” Damien said and looked up to him with a small smirk. Aiden nodded and smiled wider as he leaned his back against the counter next to the other man.

He sure knew. After all, the last pictures he has received were definitely sent from Damien’s apartment, and not the office.

“What do you want to drink with it?” Damien asked before Aiden had the chance to speak.

He put his hands on the counter, almost sitting on it at this point as he just watched Damien take out two glasses from the cupboard. He glanced towards the fridge with a shrug, needing a moment to think before answering. Unfortunately that moment hasn't really bee given to him, as Damien ruined his focus by taking a few slow steps towards him and putting his hands on his sides. He let them slide down to his hips the next moment and Aiden’s body jerked up out of surprise as he snapped back to look at him.

Damien’s face was calm and relaxed as always. It kept surprising Aiden how much of an anxiety-killer that expression of his was, and especially how it managed to make him feel both comfortable and excited at the same time. He looked down to his thin lips, but quickly turned away his gaze.

“I… don’t know what my options are,” he said quietly and squeezed the edge of the countertop.

Damien snorted and looked up and down his face, still smiling when he moved one of his hands all the way up to his stubbly cheek. Aiden’s mouth twitched when a surge of warmth traveled up his spine to finally reach his chest in an intense sensation of yearning and need for touch; a feeling which was way too common in Aiden’s life lately.

“I mean… What are you going to drink?” he asked quietly. It felt as if that confidence he was trying to muster up before arriving to Damien’s apartment was all gone, or at least it became much, much less palpable. And yet…

Aiden’s gaze moved up and down Damien’s face and neck, finally stopping on his lips again. Damien was clearly waiting for him to make a move. He wasn’t being pushy, he never was, but Aiden was positive that if he waited, he would again go home cursing himself and regretting his lack of action.

He looked up again when Damien started talking, but he realized that he didn’t understand a single word of what he said; it just all blurred out into an unintelligible mumble.

“What?” Aiden murmured, and exhaled slowly. Air hitched in his chest when Damien’s hand moved down to his neck gently.

“What ‘what’?” Damien asked quietly.

“What?”

Aiden noticed in sudden fright that Damien was much closer to him than he was just a moment ago. He also noticed that Damien’s hands were warm, and that he has never ever been as aware as he was now of how the scent of coffee and musky cologne mixed together could be so very attractive.

“What…” he just let out again.

“I said I’m going to drink wa-...” Damien stopped talking mid-sentence, suddenly interrupted by Aiden’s face pressing itself to his in the most awkward of kisses. A small gasp left Damien’s mouth when Aiden’s lips first crashed on his chin, and then right above his own lips, before they finally met their goal... but only for a few short seconds before Aiden pulled away again, looking even more surprised than Damien.

“Water is fine,” Aiden mumbled unconsciously, almost touching Damien’s lips with his once again. His heart was beating way too fast and his face was way too hot beneath Damien’s fingers, but the real heat was really inside of Aiden’s head, where he felt like screaming internally for a couple of minutes now. His hands shot up to hold onto Damien’s shirt when he leaned in again, and this time Damien had the time to respond to the kiss for a split second, right before Aiden pulled away with another frantic movement and his eyes snapped open as he just looked at him, letting out shaky ragged breaths.

“You keep surprising me,” Damien chuckled quietly and moved his thumb across Aiden’s neck and jaw. Aiden had to look away when he felt blood humming in his ears, and when his neck started getting warm.

“Not only you,” he sighed and couldn’t stop a lopsided smile from curling his lips when Damien started laughing quietly. He thought his legs would just collapse underneath him when Damien leaned in again, but instead of his lips he kissed his cheek.

"Let's eat, I'm starving," he murmured against his skin and slowly tried to pull away, but Aiden's arms wrapped themselves around him and didn't let him go. "You're not?" Damien chuckled and seeing that Aiden didn't even move, he pressed his face to his neck. Aiden let out a louder sigh and combed through his thin hair with his fingers. Damien couldn't stop smiling, slightly confused but also visibly pleased by his sudden change of heart. He squeezed Aiden’s sides gently and moved a bit further up to nuzzle Aiden’s chin and cheek, before he kissed his lips again - this time letting himself take over a bit more… which also seemed to be a bit more than Aiden was prepared for. Pearce pulled away quickly, moving his face to the side and letting go of Damien.

Damien stroked down his side and moved away his hands as well when he noticed just how abruptly Aiden’s stance changed to a much more nervous and stiff one.

“Are you okay?” he asked quietly when Aiden looked away from him and took a deep breath.

At first there was no answer, but then Aiden finally breathed out and tilted his head back. There was a faint, embarrassed smile curling his lips, and despite still looking very uncomfortable, the stiffness from a second ago seemed to be slowly leaving him.

“Yeah. Yeah, sorry,” he murmured but still did his best to avoid meeting Damien’s gaze with his own. His hand moved up to soon slide down Damien's chest, as Aiden huffed through his nose. "I'm hungry too," he murmured. For a moment he just stood there, before again leaning in one last time to peck Damien's smiling lips. He stayed just one tenth of an inch away from his face for a few seconds before finally breathing out and moving away.

"Yeah. Come on, let's sit down on the couch," Damien said very quietly and took a few steps back. Aiden exhaled softly again when Damien took the boxes and forks in his hands and headed for the living room. "Can you take the water?"

"Yeah. Yeah sure," Aiden blurted out, feeling as if someone just pulled him out of some kind of trance. He hurried to fill the glasses and followed Damien to the living room where he has put the food on the coffee table and sat down on the couch. Before Aiden knew it, he was sitting there right next to him with a box of rice and chicken and a fork in his hand, feeling way too many things to even know how to call them. 

"Wanna watch some Netflix?" Damien asked after a few minutes of awkward silence during which they have started eating.

Aiden nodded and reached for the remote which was lying on the table next to his glass. Damien's hand touched his when Aiden passed it to him and he just looked down at his food again. He was really finding it difficult to deal with this amount of sudden closeness he was getting... but not because of the closeness itself. It was rather the overwhelming feeling that overcame him when he realized just how much he wanted it.

"Damien," he said quietly when his friend turned on the TV and the home page for Netflix popped up.

"Mhm?" Damien murmured as he chose the icon with his name on it.

There was a small pause again during which Aiden ate a piece of chicken. He smiled a bit and shook his head. Some things could remain unsaid for a little bit longer.

" _Sons of Anarchy_ or _Person of Interest_?"

Damien snorted and glanced to him with a smirk.

" _Person of Interest_ , obviously."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love you guys, thank you for your support!


	13. [Finding_the_Symbolism]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New blooming friendships, nice dreams, and even nicer dates by the harbor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late Happy Holidays, everyone celebrating, and a Happy New Year! I hope you're all doing alright, I know that at least my will to write is actually doing better.  
> This is gonna be a bit longer than usual, hope that's fine with you guys.  
> Thank you for your patience! Best wishes to you, you're great!
> 
> Also, I'm sorry I'm so bad at answering comments, but I'm gonna do it right now:  
> SRMW, sleepinghowell, Chmurka - I'm so glad you're enjoying this! I'm trying to update as much as I can, and comments like yours make my entire days!  
> evanfielding, Alareshu - AHH you have no idea how much those last comments of yours made me grin! I'm hoping you're going to like this chapter as well.  
> Calibrations ALS - I'm always happy to pull new people into this rare-pair hell haha, thank you for reading. Thank you even more for your support and appreciate me, it encourages me more than anything else ever. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Aiden has been arrested once and he has then spent the night locked up at the police station. The more he was thinking about it, the more his current situation reminded him of that one night with the only difference that this time he didn’t trespass, neither has he done anything else to deserve this.

 “What did you write on C?” he heard Jordi’s voice coming from right above him where its owner was lying on the bed. Aiden was sitting on the floor with his laptop in his lap and his head and back leaned against the mattress.

“Autarky,” Aiden murmured and sighed heavily. He tilted up his head and looked at Jordi who held a bundle of paper above his face, squinting at it with an expression that suggested he couldn’t really focus on the words in front of him. “Do you really need me to be here?”

Jordi glanced down to him and shrugged.

“Well I’m not done with the exercises yet, so yeah, I do.”

“You could’ve done them in class. Or you could’ve asked me to just send them to you. I really don’t like spending time with you,” Aiden grunted and rolled his eyes.

“I made you dinner, stop whining,” Jordi said and sat up on the bed with his legs crossed.

“Yeah right,” Aiden mumbled and closed his laptop, leaning back against the bed.

He came to Jordi’s apartment only to pick up some books that Chin has basically stolen from him and now it seemed like he was stuck. He got lured in by the beautiful scent of some stir fried vegetables and noodles, and now he felt very much trapped in Jordi’s bedroom.

Aiden has been to Jordi’s apartment a few times already, but it still kept surprising him just how Chin’s entire personality seemed to be leaked all over it. There was only a living room that was doubling as a bedroom, a bathroom, and a tiny kitchen; altogether maybe one third the size of Damien’s place, but Jordi wasn’t really bothered by how tiny it was. This space filled with CD collections and unfinished sketchbooks seemed to work better for him than living with a roommate and having a bit more of space - he told Aiden that himself on a few occasions. Pearce didn’t really expect anything else either. After all, despite Jordi’s never-closing mouth, he was a very private person. Aiden was actually impressed with the way Jordi talked a lot in such a manner that was quite absorbing, but really gave away little to no information about the storyteller himself.

“What example will you be writing about for the high misery index thing?” Jordi pulled him out of his thoughts and stretched a bit when Aiden looked up to him.

“You’re the main cause of misery in my life lately,” Aiden sighed, but soon shook his head and smiled a bit when Jordi started laughing.

“So… I’m your very own ‘Asian crisis’?”

“Oh fuck off, “ Aiden snorted and turned around to face him. "Alright, cut the crap now. You don't want me to help you study, you’re not even trying. Why am I here?" he sighed and put the laptop on the floor next to him.

Jordi's gaze rested on his face for a moment before he looked away and reached for the e-cigarette lying on the bed next to him. Soon the air between them got filled with a cloud of vapor for a second or two and Aiden just rolled his eyes.

"I expected an answer," he hustled him impatiently and leaned back, burying his fingers in the long hairs of the carpet which he was sitting on. Jordi has leaned back too and was now propped up against the wall.

"Dunno. Thought some company would be nice. I mean we haven't really talked about anything besides studying for a while now," he said and Aiden couldn't help but huff through his nose.

"Yeah, that's right. Because we don't talk. We're not _friends_ , Jordi, you're blackmailing me," he reminded him, grimacing a bit at Jordi's widening smile. "Go find some friends. I know it's hard to find friends being a piece of shit like you, but-"

"Like you have a huge lot of friends, huh?" Chin interrupted him.

Aiden closed his mouth and slowly crossed his arms over his chest. That shit eating grin on Jordi's face made him want to punch it. Repeatedly. Especially because Jordi knew things he wasn't supposed to know, just as usual. 

"And I have a lot of... acquaintances, Pearce. I wanted to talk to someone, and I wouldn't invite any of those… acquaintances to my place,” Jordi added. After a second thought he shrugged and lifted the e-cig to his mouth again. "Okay maybe except for Lauren, she's been here a few times-..."

"I don't even care a little bit about that. It's _your_ weird relationships, _your_ trust issues and _your_ limited social skills, and I don't need to be a victim of them, Jordi,” Aiden interrupted him.

"Limited social skills? You're the one spending most of your free time posting nudes on social media for attention."

"And what’s your problem here?" Aiden wheezed and straightened up a bit. "So far you’ve only been profiting from keeping them on your drive, you better just shut up about it.”

Jordi looked at him in silence for a few seconds before he burst out laughing and leaned forwards a bit to blow out the vapor into his face. Aiden’s hand shot up to snatch the e-cigarette from his hand and toss it on the ground next to him. A displeased pout appeared on Jordi’s face, before he suddenly pressed his palm to Aiden’s forehead and pushed him back, earning an annoyed sound from Pearce.

“What the fuck?” he groaned and grabbed him by his wrist to push it away.

“That’s what I wanted to ask,” Jordi snorted and leaned back again, rubbing his wrist which Aiden apparently squeezed hard enough to hurt a bit. “Look, let’s face it, you have no one else but me anyway, Pearce. Just accept it and let’s move on and hang out like normal people.”

“Jordi, since when are you ‘normal people’?” Aiden spit out and slowly stood up. He kicked the e-cigarette, and it rolled in underneath the bed; much to Jordi’s disapproval. “And you’re wrong, I don’t only have you. You know that, so why would you say that?”

Jordi rolled his eyes and sighed. His arms slowly crossed over his chest, as he looked away towards the window.

“That Damien guy is not your friend, he’s your boyfriend. Don’t get these mixed up,” he whined, gasping quietly when Aiden surprised him by quickly sitting down uncomfortably close to him and pushing him over. “What, sensitive topic?” he laughed when Aiden punched his side; lightly enough to let him know that it was more a playful punch than anything else.

“You don’t know anything about that, dipshit,” Aiden snorted and shook his head when Jordi moved away from him a bit to sit up straight. “...and I’m not going to tell you about it either,” he added the moment he saw that Chin has already opened his mouth.

They looked at each other sternly for a moment, before Jordi slung his legs off the bed and turned his face to him again. To Aiden’s surprise, he held out his hand, and his only reaction was to first look down to it, then to his face, and then down again.

“What?” he asked harshly. Jordi just chuckled and moved his fingers a bit.

“Come on. I won’t break your hand or anything.”

“That’s not what I’m asking. What are you doing?” Aiden asked again with his eyebrows raised.

“Why are you always like this, Pearce? Wanted to shake your hand, because we’re legally friends now.”

“We’re not.”

“For fuck’s sake, cooperate with me,” Jordi growled and used his other hand to grab Aiden’s and put it in his own right hand. “There. Friends. Now I’ll consider stopping threatening to leak your nudes.” Aiden glared at him and pulled away his hand, causing Jordi to start laughing again. Before Pearce could comment on what just happened, Chin stood up and started walking towards the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” Aiden let out and turned his head after him.

“Gonna make myself coffee. Friendships are exhausting,” Jordi said and shrugged. The corner of Aiden’s lips twitched and he shook his head in defeat.

“You’re really fucking stupid, you know that?”

“Stop calling me things, Pearce,” Jordi said and followed with a dramatic hand gesture accompanied by another question: “Want some coffee before you go?”

Aiden bit the inside of his cheek and nodded as he stood up from the bed. He cursed under his breath when he followed Jordi into the kitchen. He hated that shit eating grin of his.

 

 

 

A while ago, Damien has started wondering whether there were any pictures or role-plays that Aiden would just refuse to do for his sake… but the longer they kept exchanging messages, the more he started to realize that there really wasn’t anything he liked that would be off-limits.

He yawned and sipped on his tea, bending down the blinds in his window to look outside, just as he always did when he woke up at some ungodly hour like 4AM and couldn’t fall back asleep. April has begun, and cold rainy Chicago became slightly less cold, but not any less rainy. The sun was rising much earlier now too, Damien noticed, after seeing it do just that at least twice a week for a few months now.

He let go of the blinds and sat down on the bed, looking up to the ceiling. He picked up his phone from the bedside table and raised his eyebrows a bit when he noticed a new message. It was from a few hours ago. Aiden probably sent it right after Damien has already fallen asleep.

**TheF0x: Hey… miss you**

Damien smiled a bit and drank more of his warm tea, maybe to hide it from himself that a sudden warmth filled his chest and his sleepy head.

**BeansDirkMen: It’s been like 3 days ;)**

**BeansDirkMen: Jk, I wish I could have you here. Had a dream about you again, you have no idea how frustrating those are haha**

He made a pause and put away the almost empty cup on the table to slowly lean back and lie down on the bed on his back. A small sigh escaped past his lips as he crawled in under the blanket, wanting to attempt getting back to sleep once again.

**BeansDirkMen: Anyway… the sunrise is here, so I should probably lie down for a few more hours. I hope I can get back into that dream ;) Oh and… don’t drive to class tomorrow. Wanted to take you for a ride, I'll pick you up**

Damien closed his eyes slowly and exhaled. He has wanted to take Aiden for a ride for a long while now, not only for the obvious fact that he wanted to spend time with him while doing something he truly enjoyed, but also because he wanted to feel Aiden’s arms wrapped around him while sitting right behind him. Having a passenger was something he really missed. 

He shuffled a bit to get more comfortable and reached out for his second pillow to squeeze it tightly in his arms. But of course, it wasn't only about just "a passenger", no, it was about Aiden in particular. And what even was it about Aiden? Damien kept asking himself. For some reason the more time they were spending together, the more his fantasies about him started becoming more and more innocent… or at least as innocent as fantasies could be. Damien could only wonder if it was because he has lowered his expectations, or because he became much more attracted to the Aiden he knew in real life than he expected. Of course, that didn’t stop him from enjoying the pictures on Aiden’s Reddit, as FoxDudeSendNudes started updating again after a few weeks of being on hiatus. So far Damien’s favorite recent picture was of Aiden wearing nothing more than a sweater; the very same one he was wearing when he was at his place last time. What did it for Damien though wasn’t only the picture itself, but the title. A few words, one sneaky “m”, suggesting what Aiden’s preferences were… but with a meaning that only Damien could really understand:

**[M]aybe now I know better than just “what”**

Damien smiled a bit to himself, finding that he was unconsciously squeezing the blanket with his fingers. He wished Aiden was there right now to tell him what he "knew better" now, just like he did in that dream he had. And the more he was thinking about it... the deeper he was sliding back into it; nearly feeling Aiden's skin on his in that sleepy haze.

Actually, in the dream Aiden knew even more than just "better". Damien's hands were on his thighs and his lips were pressed up against his neck. He liked Aiden on top of him, when he was riding him in this needy way, and in the dream it felt as if this happened often. It was domestic, as if they'd just woken up and wanted to share this moment; as if it was a common thing that still felt just as exciting every single time.

"Let me look at you," Aiden whispered to him, and pulled away a bit. His voice echoed in Damien's head as he caught Aiden's green eyes with his own gaze. The green of them was even more prominent in the blurred together scenes of his fantasy.

Damien's arms wrapped themselves around his waist as he let his fingertips dig into Aiden's skin a bit more. At this point he knew he was dreaming, but for some reason, lately he found it much easier to stop himself from waking up after that realization. It was quite convenient, this awareness, he thought as he hazily let his in-dream hands wander up and down Aiden's warm body.

"Damien..." Aiden let out in that way that Damien could never get bored of. He reached up to put his hands on Aiden's shoulders, but Aiden pushed down his arms and pinned him to the bed. Damien smiled faintly. Despite everything that happened between them so far and Aiden's introverted nature, he still knew that a big of Aiden's character actually built on being dominant. It surely seemed like Damien's subconsciousness was putting a lot of weight on that trait.

"You're mine now," Aiden whispered, and the words vibrated in the air for another while. It didn't sound like Aiden at all, but Damien still loved it. He loved it all; the movements of his hips, the heavy breaths he was letting out, the kisses he was lavishing him with... During those few moments, Damien again managed to forget he was dreaming. The longing for the other man was gone - after all, he had him right there, fulfilling his desires.

The next second the scene has changed. Aiden was still in his arms, but now underneath him, scratching his sides. They were on the couch in Damien's old apartment, and the sounds Aiden was making seemed to be filling out all of it.

"Love me," Aiden breathed out, and Damien hugged his body tightly, pressing his face to his cheek. "You know I need you?"

"I know," Damien gasped between short kisses he was pressing to the man's face. Again, the realization of dreaming hit him like a slap to the face, as obviously Aiden wouldn't say things like that. Not formulating it like that. But it didn't matter, after all dreams like those served the purpose of tickling his ego, not to show the perfect truth. "Come on..."

The scene changed again. They were in the kitchen and, surprisingly, fully clothed; Damien propped up against the counter, and Aiden in front of him. Damien's heart was beating like crazy, and he knew he was on the verge of waking up when Aiden's hands appeared on his hips before he leaned into make their lips connect slowly.

"What?" Aiden asked when he pulled away a bit, and, before Damien could respond, he laughed and kissed him again. Just like that time. Exactly like that time.

Damien jerked awake suddenly, a second time that night. His pulse was racing and his hands were shaking, but he just breathed out loudly when his head fell heavily back down onto the pillow.

"Fucking ‘what’..." he huffed and caught himself smiling.

 

 

 

Aiden knew that they wouldn’t go the fastest Damien’s bike really could without proper gear, but this was definitely fast enough to get blood rushing in his veins. He loved riding motorcycles, and since his last bike-crazy friend moved out of the city, he didn’t have the possibility to do it. Getting the license was annoying and expensive, so he never really got one himself… maybe now he could get back to doing it more often.

He squeezed the vehicle tighter with his knees and wrapped his arms tighter around Damien’s waist. Outside of the helmet Damien brought for him he could hear the air lashing around them and chilling his jeans-clad legs. He didn’t really need to hold onto Damien _that_ tightly, but hell, the contrast of his warmth against Aiden’s chest, and the coldness of the wind grazing his sides was very much worth that slightly too tight grip.

They rushed through the Docks, and Aiden watched as the scenery around them turned from high-rises and apartment buildings into the industrial area. The sun was nearly setting and orange rays were shining through the few clouds that floated lazily above them. Aiden squeezed his hands together into fists when he felt his fingers get a bit cold despite that he was wearing leather gloves. It was late afternoon already and Aiden was thankful for that - rides of this nature were much more enjoyable when there weren’t many people and traffic lights barricading the way.

Aiden leaned together with Damien when the man made a rather sudden turn onto one of the smaller streets. They slowed down and Aiden realized in surprise that they drove through a half-open gate and further towards the harbor between tall containers. He leaned forwards a bit and frowned.

“Aren’t we trespassing?” he nearly shouted to make himself audible through the helmet. He could feel that Damien’s body shook a bit as he laughed and turned his face to the side slightly when he slowed down more.

“Not if no one notices us and kicks us out,” Damien answered, and though Aiden couldn’t see his expression, he was more than sure that he was grinning. Aiden huffed through his nose and moved his hands to squeeze Damien’s stomach a bit, which resulted in him laughing more. He found Damien's words too similar to what he said himself the many, many times when he was somewhere he shouldn't be.

Damien parked between two containers and turned off the engine, pulling off his helmet before he turned around to face his passenger. Aiden smiled and put down his feet on the ground, pulling off his helmet as well.

"Did you like the ride?" Damien asked when Aiden pushed his leg over to the other side and stood up beside him. Aiden's face lit up in a brighter smile, and Damien just chuckled. "I take that as a yes."

"Yes, definitely," he sighed and pulled off his gloves, stuffing them inside of the helmet. He combed through his brown hair with his fingers, and Damien smiled faintly when he saw that it only made it more messy. "What are we going to do here, though?"

"I used to climb containers here back when I was in college. I thought we could sit a few levels above for a while, it's nice," Damien said when Aiden pulled away a bit and let him dismount the motorcycle. "The sun is going to set completely soon, I thought it would be pretty."

"Aren't you being a cliché now?" Aiden said jokingly and strapped the helmet to the motorcycle’s carry bar. Damien soon did the same thing.

"You mind?" he asked and smirked slightly. Aiden snorted and was about to answer with another snarky remark, but he got quickly silenced by Damien's lips finding his own mouth. Aiden's eyes widened and he hurried to pull away, looking around them with a slightly horrified look on his face as he pushed Damien away with a hiss. He could feel himself blushing, the feeling intensifying when he saw Damien lick his smirking lips before he unzipped his leather jacket and turned towards one of the lower containers.

"Are you nuts? People could see us," Aiden grunted and Damien just chuckled, pulling himself up on top of the container.

"We're trespassing. Kissing would be our smallest problem if someone saw us," he responded and reached out a hand, crouching on the metal roof of the box. "Come on up. No one will see us there. No one looks up."

Aiden squinted at him and shook his head a bit, trying to calm down his suddenly way too fast breathing. He jumped up after Damien and used his help to pull himself up all the way.

"Lead the way," he said and Damien grinned at him. "You better not get us arrested."

"Mama wouldn't be proud?" Brenks snorted and pushed himself up on the next container. Aiden realized in amusement that he obviously needed to catch his breath. He laughed and followed him, ignoring the metal of an uneven edge that scraped his knee.

"Well, not like she would be surprised. Wouldn't be the first time," he said and gasped when Damien pushed him gently against the crate next to a ladder leading further up on the pile of containers. "What are you doing?" he snorted, placing his hands on Damien's chest and unconsciously sliding them down to his stomach.

"You seem much more relaxed today," Damien observed and moved his still gloved hand to cup Aiden's cheek. "Just wanted to look at you while you're like that."

Aiden snorted nervously and looked away. Damien was right, he was more relaxed. There was a different kind of energy rushing through his body than usual, one that made his usual nervousness in Damien's presence get overwhelmed by excitement instead of anything negative. He smiled again and pulled Damien closer by his shirt to kiss him slowly, for the first time not pulling away after the first two seconds. Aiden didn't even know what was the name for the things he was feeling; this strange euphoric mixture. The adrenaline that came from the ride was a big part of it, of course, but not all of it; it was the amazing scent of rough metal combined with Damien's musky perfumes, his ragged breaths, and the sudden change of the atmosphere from a loose hang-out to this slow, but very needy exchange of careful kisses and breaths.

Aiden's eyes fell shut and he leaned his head back against the crate, making their lips part. Damien didn’t move away though, and they just stood there like that. Resting.

“You’re different again,” Damien murmured and left another soft kiss on his lips. “Different from when I saw you last time. What happened, huh?” he asked playfully and Aiden snorted and pushed him away slowly. He refused to look up to him as he walked the few last steps over to the ladder and started climbing up.

“I… I’m in a better mood,” he answered shortly and stopped for a moment, just admiring the view. He sighed and shrugged a bit when Damien came up next to him and looked at him questioningly. A small smile appeared on Aiden’s face as he looked out over the harbor and watched the last of the sun glimmer in the water. “I guess I needed a moment. And now I’m better,” he said and glanced to Damien who sat down where he was standing and crossed his legs.

No one said anything after that for a few minutes, and they just watched the boats below go back and forth on the dark water of Lake Michigan. Aiden didn’t sit down at first, but once he did, his head found its’ way to Damien’s shoulder quite fast, as if being leaned against him was the most natural state for him. Damien put an arm around him, and Aiden shuffled a bit closer.

“Damien?”

“Hm?”

“Why here, of all places? I know you’re a dramatic fuck, you like symbolic things. Is there symbolism in this?” Aiden asked all of sudden and looked up to him for a second before he turned his gaze back to the water.

It was slowly getting dark, and the city lights sure looked mesmerizing when reflected in the lake. Aiden could hear the quiet squeak of their jackets when they ground against each other once Damien’s arm moved a bit to stroke his arm. Aiden closed his eyes again, smelling the familiar industrial scent of oil and wind.

“Maybe,” Damien finally said in a low voice and took a deep breath. He turned his face to bury his nose in Aiden’s hair. “But I won’t tell you. I’m a dramatic fuck after all,” he added.

Aiden made a disappointed sound before he laughed quietly.

“Fine. I’m just still hoping you’re not planning to tie me up and drown me now.”

“That I can’t promise,” Damien murmured jokingly and earned a nudge to the ribs. Aiden couldn’t stop smiling to himself when another wave of warmth ran through him once Damien’s lips locked with his once again.

No, he wasn’t scared anymore, not for real. Not with Damien.


End file.
